Alibaba and WeChat are about to add a feature that will allow foreigners to make mobile payments in China

Alibaba and WeChat have simultaneously announced that travelers will be able to link their international cards to their payment apps starting November 7, 2019.

If you've ever traveled or worked in China, you'll probably be surprised to find that people in this country especially prefer mobile payment. People just need to carry their phones with them and go shopping without worrying about stealing or dropping their wallets. In addition, not all stores in China accept payment by card. Except for shopping malls, big stores, most business locations in this country only accept mobile payment methods from some domestic service providers like AliPay or WeChat pay, but These applications do not allow foreigners to associate their credit or debit cards with the application to make mobile payments.

But that's a thing of the past because on Friday, November 6, both Alibaba and Alibaba simultaneously announced that travelers would be able to link their international cards to their payment apps. This business starts on November 7, 2019.

To use Alipay in China, you will need to download the application and choose to install the international version during the registration process. This payment service will support Visa, MasterCard, Japan JC JCB and Singapore, Diners Club.

In a separate statement, WeChat's parent company, Tencent Group, said it would support more American Express cards besides the cards mentioned above.

Alibaba and WeChat are about to add a feature that will allow foreigners to make mobile payments in China Picture 1 Alibaba and WeChat are about to add a feature that will allow foreigners to make mobile payments in China Picture 1

Mobile payment is one of the most popular forms of payment in China, especially in urban areas. According to a report of the World Economic Forum published in May, mobile payment now accounts for 35% in China. In 2018, the 2nd largest economy in the world spent a total plus 41.3 trillion dollars through 60.5 billion mobile transactions - up 61.2% over 2017.

According to statistics, there were 141 million foreigners coming to China in 2018. This is a great opportunity for domestic companies like Alibaba and WeChat to attract a large number of customers to use the payment service of surname.