- Popular Chinese payment platform aims to grow US market presence
- Will focus efforts on US merchants in second half of 2018
- Move part of larger expansion plans to improve cross-border payments for travellers and to license local payment solutions
Tencent Holdings, China’s tech giant, has announced plans to expand its WeChat Pay mobile payments platform to a wider global audience.
WeChat Pay, the online money transfer arm of the popular WeChat social media app, will add a number of US merchants over the next six months.
Introduced to the American market in 2016, WeChat Pay started by facilitating international money transfers and merchant payments to Chinese tourists in the US. This allows travellers to pay for goods and services with a familiar payment method, even when vacationing abroad. By accepting WeChat Pay, US retailers and small businesses are able to tap into the rapidly growing Chinese tourist market.
Now, Tencent hopes to expand this offering to even more US businesses.
“The first step is, we will choose merchants that Chinese tourists like, some outlets and duty-free stores, some famous restaurants,” said WeChat Pay Director of Cross-border Operations Yin Jie. “Maybe as a next step, we will try and find some smaller merchants, like supermarkets, convenience stores, transportation [services] like taxis.”
Jie explained that once the WeChat Pay platform has been established with larger retailers popular with Chinese tourists, the hope is that smaller businesses will also see the potential benefits of accepting the international payments solution.
Tencent is also exploring the viability of licensing local agents in destinations around the world to better serve WeChat Pay users. The company is currently testing this model in Malaysia, where many people already use the WeChat social networking app.
WeChat Pay is accepted in more than 40 countries around the world and lets users send and receive international payments in over 13 currencies.
To learn more about international money transfers and remittance services to China, review our currency comparison tool here.
