UnionPay-Weixin Partnership Expands Payment Options For International Visitors In China  

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- UnionPay International has recently collaborated with Weixin Pay, which enables users of international UnionPay-powered wallets to scan Weixin Pay payment codes in the Chinese mainland.

Eight wallets are now able to offer this feature, namely BoC Pay from Bank of China (Hong Kong), Octopus, PayMe by HSBC, and Tap & Go in Hong Kong SAR; Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking and K PLUS from KASIKORNBANK in Thailand; Naver Pay in South Korea; and ICBC Mobile Banking (ICBC Pay) in Malaysia.

This collaboration offers international visitors more mobile payment options during their stay in China, according to UnionPay in a statement.

By linking or activating their physical or digital UnionPay cards to the participating wallets, users are able to scan Weixin Pay payment codes in China, with their home currencies automatically converted to the Chinese yuan.

Moving forward, Weixin QR payments will also be enabled for more UnionPay-powered wallets from Macao SAR, other Southeast Asian countries, the South Pacific, and more regions.

This collaboration is part of UnionPay's Project Excellence 2024, aiming to facilitate easier payments for inbound visitors to China. Since June, UnionPay App users have been able to scan the various merchant-presented Weixin Pay codes and make payments.

This new enablement with international wallets marks the latest milestone in the UnionPay-Weixin Pay collaboration to enhance payment interoperability.

This partnership reflects UnionPay's efforts to jointly drive connectivity with various players in the payment industry and accelerate the development of a sustainable business model. It provides international visitors to China with more options and a better payment journey, further contributing to the country's high-standard opening up.

In recent years, as UnionPay continues to improve its localised offerings, an increasing number of residents outside the Chinese mainland now enjoy the convenient services brought by UnionPay's payment products.

Outside of China, over 250 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 83 countries and regions, and more than 200 UnionPay-powered wallets have been launched in 36 countries and regions. These products can be used on UnionPay's acceptance network worldwide.

-- BERNAMA