UnionPay International Works with Industry Partners to Make Payments Easier for International Visitors to China's Mainland

More Users of International UnionPay-Powered E-Wallets Can Now Make Weixin QR Payments inChina'sMainland

SHANGHAI,Dec. 19, 2024/PRNewswire/ -- On December 17, UnionPay International announced its new collaboration withWeixin Pay, which enables users of international UnionPay-powered wallets to scanWeixin Paypayment codes inChina'smainland. Eight wallets are now able to offer this feature, namely BoC Pay from Bank ofChina(Hong Kong), Octopus, PayMe by HSBC, and Tap& Go in Hong Kong SAR; Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking and K PLUS from KASIKORNBANK inThailand;Naver PayinSouth Korea; and ICBC Mobile Banking (ICBC Pay) inMalaysia. International visitors will thus have access to more mobile payment options during their time inChina'smainland.

With this partnership, once users link their physical UnionPay cards or activate digital UnionPay cards in the participating wallets, they will be able to pay by scanningWeixin Paypayment codes inChina'smainland, with their home currencies automatically converted to the RMB. In the future, Weixin QR payments will also be enabled for more UnionPay-powered wallets from Macao SAR, otherSoutheast Asiacountries, the South Pacific, and more regions.

Since the launch of Project Excellence 2024 in March, UnionPay has actively played its pivotal role as a card scheme to promote open collaboration with industry partners and make payments easier for inbound visitors toChina'sMainland. Starting June, UnionPay App users were able to scan the various merchant-presentedWeixin Paycodes and make payments. This new enablement with international wallets marks the latest milestone in the UnionPay -Weixin Paycollaboration 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 toChina'smainland with more options and a better payment journey, further contributing toChina'shigh-standard opening up. Back in 2018, UnionPay worked withWeixin Payand WeChat Pay HK, an HKD-denominated e-wallet, to offer the cross-border payment solution, which supports cross-border consumption forHong Kongresidents at more than tens of millions of merchants inChina'smainland.

In recent years, as UnionPay continues to improve its localized offerings, an increasing number of residents outsideChina'smainland now enjoy the convenient services brought by UnionPay's payment products. OutsideChina'smainland, 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.

SOURCE UnionPay International