On December 17, reporters learned from China UnionPay that UnionPay International has reached a cooperation agreement with WeChat Pay to support overseas UnionPay-cooperating electronic wallets in scanning domestic WeChat Pay QR codes for payments. Through this cooperation, eight overseas electronic wallets have activated this function, further enriching the mobile payment options for foreigners in China.

According to reports, these eight overseas electronic wallets are: BoC Pay, Octopus, PayMe by HSBC, Tap & Go from Hong Kong, Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking, K PLUS from Thailand, NAVER Pay from South Korea, and ICBC Mobile Banking (ICBC Pay) from Malaysia.

By cooperating with UnionPay International, WeChat Pay has added eight overseas electronic wallets for domestic QR code payments. (Image provided by WeChat Pay)

Reporters have learned that after the cooperation between UnionPay International and WeChat Pay was implemented, users of the aforementioned overseas electronic wallets can bind their UnionPay physical cards or activate UnionPay digital card issuance within their wallets, enabling them to conveniently scan WeChat Pay QR codes for domestic payments, with automatic currency conversion from the local currency to Chinese yuan during the payment process. In the future, UnionPay-cooperating wallet products in regions such as Macau and Southeast Asia will gradually launch this function.

This year, relevant departments have focused on facilitating cross-border payments, promoting the "binding of foreign cards domestically," where overseas bank cards can be bound to Alipay or WeChat Pay for consumption at domestic merchants, and supporting the "use of overseas electronic wallets domestically," with an increasing number of overseas electronic wallets becoming usable in China.

This is another cooperation between UnionPay and WeChat Pay to deepen payment interconnection. Since June this year, many users have been able to open the Cloud QuickPass app to scan and pay under the "scan-to-pay" scenario for various WeChat Pay QR codes.

According to China UnionPay, overseas, UnionPay has issued over 250 million UnionPay cards in 83 countries and regions and launched over 200 UnionPay-cooperating wallets in 36 countries and regions. This cooperation is an important manifestation of UnionPay joining forces with all parties to deeply promote the interconnection of the payment industry and accelerate the construction of sustainable business models, providing more payment options and better payment experiences for foreigners.

Reporters learned from WeChat Pay that since July 2023, WeChat Pay has provided services to millions of foreign visitors to China, with the number of transactions and transaction amounts maintaining a trend of high growth. In November 2024, the number of transactions and transaction amounts related to foreign card payments on WeChat Pay were 6.4 times and 4.5 times, respectively, those in July of the previous year. This cooperation marks a new starting point for WeChat Pay to further enrich its domestic payment service matrix for foreigners, and subsequently, through various product combinations, it will continue to expand its support range, effectively enhancing user experience and scenario coverage.