Travellers using any of eight overseas e-wallets including HSBC’s PayMe and Naver Pay can now make payments on the mainland by scanning WeChat QR codes.
UnionPay International and WeChat Pay have introduced enhanced payment services for foreign visitors to the Chinese mainland.
The collaboration enables users of international UnionPay-powered wallets to scan WeChat Pay payment codes in China. Travellers using any of eight overseas e-wallets can now make payments on the mainland by scanning WeChat QR codes.
The participating wallets include BOCHK’s BoC Pay, Octopus, HSBC’s PayMe, and Tap & Go in Hong Kong; Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking and Kasikornbank’s K PLUS in Thailand; Naver Pay in South Korea; and ICBC Pay in Malaysia.
Once users link their physical UnionPay cards or activate digital UnionPay cards in the participating wallets, they will be able to pay by scanning WeChat Pay payment codes in China with their home currencies automatically converted to the yuan.
“International visitors will thus have access to more mobile payment options during their time in the Chinese mainland,” UnionPay International said in a statement.
Since June, UnionPay App users have been able to scan the WeChat Pay codes at merchants to make payments. The new enablement with international wallets marks the latest milestone in the collaboration between UnionPay and WeChat Pay to enhance payment interoperability.
UnionPay said in the future, WeChat QR payments will also be enabled for more UnionPay-powered wallets from Macao, other Southeast Asia countries, the South Pacific, and more regions.
China has been working to make mobile payment processes more accessible to foreigners. Since June 2023, foreign travellers have been able to link credit cards from Visa and Mastercard to local platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay.