WeChat Pay expands QR payments to 5 Asian countries

WeChat Pay, Tencent’s payment service, said on April 24 that users can now scan local QR codes in five countries for payments abroad.

The markets are South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The company said the move connects with local payment networks and removes the need for users to download local apps.

China recorded 185 million cross-border trips in the first quarter, up 13.5% from a year earlier.

WeChat Pay said its cross-border service covers 78 countries and regions and 36 currencies.

China has also let overseas bank cards link to Alipay and WeChat Pay for spending at domestic merchants.

🔗 Source: China Daily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

WeChat Pay is linking to the domestic payment infrastructure in five countries, instead of cutting separate deals with each merchant 1.
It now works with local QR systems such as Thailand’s PromptPay, a national digital payment system, and Malaysia’s DuitNow QR, a national QR payment network used by most local banks and e-wallets 2.
That setup lets the service run across QR codes already used in those markets through local payment networks 1.
Chinese travelers can scan common merchant QR codes with WeChat’s in-app tool and pay without adding local apps 2.

WeChat Pay is expanding as Ant International’s Alipay+, Alipay’s international merchant and payments network, also builds cross-border links. Alipay+ works with more than 10 national QR code networks 1.
Links to overseas payment systems could also let WeChat Pay support other Chinese companies as they grow abroad 2.
The expansion matches China’s effort to improve cross-border payment links and build a yuan payment system. WeChat Pay says its system converts local currency to RMB, or renminbi, using real-time exchange rates 2, 1.
The move fits a wider divide between QR code payment models in many Asian markets and near-field communication (NFC)-based systems like Apple Pay, which are common in Western markets 3.