Mastercard and WeChat Pay join forces to enhance digital payment experiences for visitors to China

Mastercard and WeChat Pay have partnered up to offer visitors the access to local merchants in China to improve their digital payment experiences.

This comes following the partnership established in 2019 to offer enhanced digital payment solutions to both consumers and merchants, and the latest development gives Mastercard cardholders full access to WeChat Pay's merchant network in the China upon linking their cards to WeChat Pay as a new payment option. 

The extended merchant network includes categories such as dining, transportation, shopping, accommodation and more. Travellers with Mastercard cards can now utilise multiple payment methods through the WeChat app, such as scanning QR codes, presenting payment codes, mini programmes and in-app payments, enriching their payment experience online and offline.

In terms of merchants, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the WeChat Pay-Mastercard collaboration offers them more opportunities to transact with travellers who now have access to WeChat Pay, one of the most widely accepted payment methods in China.

On the other hand, the new partnership is also built on the latest Mastercard data insights, which found that consumer spending has shown resilience with a continued focus on experiences and travel. During the second quarter of 2023, cross-border travel was robust, reaching 154% of 2019 levels, up 6% from the previous quarter. Moreover, the Chinese mainland saw improvement in inbound cross-border travel to approximately 50% of the levels seen in 2019. 

Don't miss: Mastercard and Alipay team up to offer another cashless payment option in China

Apart from WeChat Pay, Mastercard also joined forces with Alipay in June to launch a new payment option for arrivals to China by linking any Mastercard card to the Alipay digital wallet, providing another cashless payment method during their visits. 

By having the choice to pay cashless, via mobile devices, at locations across the Chinese mainland that accept Alipay, where QR codes are the most popular form of payment, Mastercard cardholders from around the globe will have the option to transact with ease and convenience while in the Chinese mainland.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Mastercard for more information. 

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