- The company, which operates in the Special Administrative Region of Macau in China, will offer the new services partly in response to the coronavirus outbreak
- The two services offered will be Alipay HK and WeChat Pay HK, both of which have faced a number of regulatory hurdles before entering the market
- Aim of the new arrangement is to “promote the economic development of local merchants in Macau after the Covid-19 epidemic and enhance the consumption experience of overseas tourists”, the firm said
A leading developer of payments tools in Asia has announced that it will integrate popular services such as Alipay HK on its terminals.
Macau Pass SA, which has been responsible for creating a contactless smartcard used in the self-governing Macau area of China, will now accept both Alipay HK and WeChat Pay HK.
These are two of the most popular payments systems in modern China and are used by people across the country.
It is understood that the services will be offered at the many terminals the firm operates across the area.
In a statement, Macau Pass SA said that part of the reason for the move pertained to the outbreak of the coronavirus Covid-19, which has caused economic damage in the region.
The virus has caused some cities in China to be closed down and has also caused disruption to global supply chains with elements in the country.
The firm also confirmed that there was a cross border payments dimension – saying that “overseas tourists” will benefit too.
“To promote the economic development of local merchants in Macau after the Covid-19 epidemic and enhance the consumption experience of overseas tourists, Macau Pass and AlipayHK and WeChat Pay HK’s cross-border mobile payment cooperation has been officially opened”, it said.
“Macau Pass hopes to provide Hong Kong visitors with a convenient electronic payment and consumption experience in Macau, promote the enhancement of spending by visitors to Macau, bring business opportunities to local merchants in Macau, and accelerate the economic recovery after the epidemic has eased”, the firm added.
The two online money transfer systems which Macau Pass SA is now co-operating with have experienced a range of problems in recent years – although they are now firmly embedded as strong choices for Chinese and international consumers.
WeChat Pay HK, which is owned by Tencent Holdings, arrived on the scene four years ago – although only after significant efforts on the part of its owner to comply with regulations.
Alipay, which was launched by Ant Financial, arrived in 2017 through collaboration with a firm called CK Hutchinson.
The coronavirus continues to cause damage in China, making it unsurprising that some cross border payments firms are choosing to respond by changing their systems.
The world of cross border payments is fast-moving.
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