Visa and WeChat Pay HK partner to support economic recovery and SMEs

By Leandra Monteiro

WeChat Pay HK, a mobile payment platform under Tencent Holdings, today announced its collaboration with Visa, the global payment technology company, to support disbursement of the Hong Kong SAR government’s Consumption Voucher Scheme. The initiative aims to support economic recovery and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their digital transformation journeys.

WeChat Pay HK has launched a new preferential policy to facilitate more local SME merchants to participate in the scheme. From May 20 to December 31, SME merchants which accept payment through “WeChat Pay HK Checkout”, a one-stop solution for easy payment collection, can enjoy a service fee waiver for all transactions, joining the existing electronic payment network of 100,000 merchants and over 3.8 million registered users.

For its part to promote local economic recovery, Visa will invest in driving consumption voucher usage at SME merchants. WeChat Pay HK has pledged to rebate the extra income generated from the scheme to merchants and users and will launch various promotional activities for users on top of the HK$5,000 consumption voucher.

Visa collaborates with WeChat Pay HK to provide promotional offers to users who use Visa to make payments through WeChat Pay HK. Through various promotions to be launched by Visa in collaboration with WeChat Pay HK, local SMEs will be able to leverage the two parties’ extensive user base, networks, and brand to expand their businesses during the scheme.

Daniel Hong, Vice President of Tencent Financial Technology said, “As one of the Stored Value Facility operators to assist in implementing the Consumption Voucher Scheme, we are pleased about the cooperation with Visa to help local SME merchants to expand their electronic payment business under the scheme, and seize the opportunities of mobile payment development in Hong Kong. We are actively engaging a wide range of merchants and institutions to offer more additional discounts, so as to bring more benefits to consumers as well as business expansion opportunities to merchants and financial institutions. These efforts coincide with Tencent Financial Technology’s vision, which is connecting people with financial products solutions, and building an open ecosystem for the financial industry. ”

Maaike Steinebach, General Manager, Visa Hong Kong and Macau shared, “With Hong Kong’s economy rebounding, it is important that we all play our part to rebuild. Since the beginning of last year, Visa’s goal has been helping SMEs emerge stronger from the crisis. This collaboration with WeChat Pay HK ensures that the consumption vouchers will benefit the most people, from consumers to small business owners. Enabling digital payments is the beginning of the journey towards digital transformation, a springboard for post-COVID growth.”

According to research from Visa, cash usage in Hong Kong has dropped from 91% in 2019 to 78% this year, indicating that Hong Kong consumers are using more digital payments than cash for the first time. Both companies will continue to champion SME merchants in their digital transformation journeys and nurture the development of fintech ecosystem and digital economy in Hong Kong.