Weixin Pay rolls out red carpet for tourists in Thailand with new payment perks

Tencent’s Weixin Pay, commonly known as WeChat Pay, a Chinese payment service provider, has introduced innovative features aimed at simplifying payments for foreign tourists in China and cross-border transactions in Thailand. These features allow visitors to conveniently make payments by scanning QR codes, streamlining the payment process.

Starting in July, Tencent has been collaborating closely with major global credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard to improve the payment experience for tourists.

The global travel and tourism industry, which significantly impacts the payments landscape, has faced severe challenges in the past three years. However, as borders begin to reopen, vendors in popular tourist destinations are preparing to accommodate foreign visitors.

This preparation includes the provision of convenient digital payment options for international travellers, including those from mainland China.

This development aligns with the full resumption of international travel and business in China, as well as major global events taking place in the country.

In 2019, Weixin Pay initiated support for inbound users to link their international credit cards to various pilot services.

Transaction fee waived

Monica Zheng, the marketing director of Weixin Pay International Business under Tencent, stated that the expanded merchant network includes sectors such as dining, transportation, shopping, hotels, etc. Inbound users will now have convenient access to tens of millions of vendors, including small and medium-sized businesses.

Transaction fees for single payments less or equal to 200 renminbi will be waived to support users’ frequency and small-amount payment needs, according to the specifics outlined on the payment page.

With the return of cross-border travel and upcoming international events such as the Chengdu Universiade and Hangzhou Asian Games, the influx of inbound visitors is set to increase, reported Bangkok Post.

Zheng affirmed the company’s commitment to collaborate with international card companies and other partners. This collaboration is aimed at enabling overseas users to conveniently access tens of millions of merchants in China. Comparing figures from August 2019 to the same month this year, the number of merchant partners has surged by 748%, and offline transactions have risen by 114%.

Weixin Pay has also extended its collaborations in Southeast Asia, including a partnership with Thailand’s Big C Supercenter Plc supermarket and convenience store chain.

Tencent also plans to continue working with local partners like Big C and Centara Hotels & Resorts to provide a seamless payment experience for Chinese travellers and businesses.

Chinese travel resurgence

Zheng stated that the Chinese outbound travel market is already witnessing a resurgence.

During this year’s May Day holiday, the volume of average daily offline transactions for Weixin Pay in overseas markets surged by 88%, and the daily average amount of offline consumption increased by 75%, compared to the same period in 2019. The number of active Weixin Pay overseas merchants has also increased nearly fivefold.

The marketing director added that Tencent will continue to innovate and improve its products and services to adapt to the changing consumption habits of Chinese travellers. The company aims to collaborate with more network partners to deliver high-quality travel and payment experiences.

In a separate development, Weixin Pay is launching a palm-based payment service. Currently, this service only supports mainland China citizens.

This palm-recognition payment method is designed for users whose mobile phones have run out of battery or who prefer this simplistic payment method. This service can be used at airports, department stores, and cafes.

Users are required to register their palm prints at designated kiosks to use the palm payment method. In another development, Ant Group’s Alipay and Ascend’s True Money will announce a collaboration today to facilitate a scan payment service for Thais travelling in China.

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