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China’s Alipay and WeChat Pay ease the way for foreign travellers to make payments in world’s largest cashless society
- Alipay raised foreign visitors’ transaction limits, while travellers can link their overseas bank cards to WeChat Pay without ‘complete information’
- Those initiatives come after Chinese authorities on Thursday published new guidelines to deliver more convenient payment services for foreign visitors
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China’s two dominant mobile payment services providers, Alipay owner Ant Group and WeChat Pay operator Tencent Holdings, are enhancing operations to make it easier for foreign travellers to pay for goods and services on the mainland, the world’s largest cashless society.
Those initiatives come after the General Office of the State Council on Thursday published new guidelines towards “providing higher-quality, more effective and more convenient payment services” for foreign visitors, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.
Ant Group has raised foreign travellers’ single-transaction limit on Alipay to US$5,000 from US$1,000, the Chinese financial technology giant said in a statement. The company is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.
Alipay’s annual cumulative transaction limit for foreign visitors has also been increased to US$50,000, up from the previous US$10,000 limit, in line with a new People’s Bank of China policy, the group said.
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Hangzhou-based Ant Group’s Alipay+ network already supports various Asian e-wallets and payment apps on the mainland, including Hong Kong’s AlipayHK, MPay from Macau, South Korea’s Kakao Pay and TrueMoney from Thailand.
Tencent on Thursday said foreign visitors on the mainland are now allowed to bind their international bank cards to WeChat Pay without “complete information”.
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