On the foundation of the popular digital payment services, China is moving towards a cashless economy. In a bid to offer ease to international users, Chinese mobile payment giants WeChat Pay and Alipay have recently started allowing foreigners to link their accounts with international bank cards, further supporting international payment firms like Mastercard and Visa.

According to reports, this move would allow overseas users to pay numerous Chinese merchants like China Railway 12306 online tickets service, e-commerce site JD.com, ride-hailing service Didi, food delivery service platform Meituan, online travel agent Ctrip, among many others.

Commenting on this, WeChat Pay parent Tencent said that the inconvenience of using local mobile payments has become a vital pain point for international users living in or visiting mainland China. The company claims that, in recent years, there has been a rise in international visitors who are traveling to mainland China, while some have chosen to stay and work here.

Moreover, with this move, Tencent intends to facilitate the growth of digital transactions in the future, under the supervision of the relevant regulatory bodies and policies. Reportedly, both WeChat Pay as well as Alipay will enable users to link international cards by MasterCard, American Express, VISA, Discover Global Network and JCB to their accounts.

Meanwhile, U.S digital payment company, Visa Inc. claims that their cardholders, following this move, would be able to use Visa Card across China where WeChat Pay is accepted. Visa hopes this to be a great step forward, for both consumers travelling to China as well as the overall payments industry.

According to credible reports, in 2018, China had received around 30.5 million foreign visitors, an increase of 4.7% from 2017. Mobile payment transactions meanwhile had reached a record S$15.7 trillion in 2017, claims the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Also, WeChat Pay and Alipay are said to account for around 96% of the China's mobile payment market.

Source Credit - https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-china-payments/china-mobile-payment-giants-alipay-wechat-open-to-international-cards-idINKBN1XG1FN