For overseas visitors, visiting China has just gotten a whole lot simpler. Visitors will be able to link their Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) accounts to the most leading payment apps systems in China starting on Friday.
This will enable them to book taxis, use the metro, and make purchases at millions of merchant locations around the nearly paperless nation.
Alipay and WeChat Pay are once again attempting to accept foreign credit cards after allowing some restricted access in late 2019.
As Beijing looks to entice foreign investment and foreign tourists to strengthen its ailing economy, the corporations previously claimed that they were functioning in accordance with Chinese regulators.
The largest payment app in China, Alipay, which is run by Ant Group, revealed on Friday that users from other countries can link their digital wallets to cards from Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club, and Discover. The modification is effective right away.
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WeChat Pay Expands to Include Visa and Mastercard
A similar announcement was made a day earlier by Tencent (TCEHY), the company behind WeChat Pay, the second-most widely used payment app in the nation. Weixin Pay is the official name of WeChat Pay in China.
WeChat users in China may now attach credit or debit cards from Visa, Mastercard, JCB, or Discover to make purchases at tens of millions of businesses, claims the social media and gaming company.
China virtually exclusively uses electronic transactions, which total $434 trillion yearly. According
to data from the Chinese card payment company UnionPay, over 80% of everyday consumer transactions take place on mobile platforms.
With a combined 91% market share, Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate digital payment services.
But until recently, most foreign tourists were unable to use the applications’ services since they required a mainland Chinese bank account and a local mobile phone number.
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Source: edition.cnn.com