ALBAWABA - China has announced the possibility of linking "Mastercard" and "Visa" accounts for foreign visitors with local mobile payment platforms. With this decision, foreign tourists will be able to easily book taxis, use the subway, pay entrance fees to tourist attractions, and make payments for goods and services throughout the country using their credit cards without the need for cash transactions.
This move comes as a result of the efforts of Alibaba's "Alipay" and Tencent's "WeChat," the two largest mobile payment companies in China, which sought to connect foreign credit cards with local payment platforms after partially opening the service in 2019.
"Alipay" and "WeChat" currently dominate 91% of China's non-cash (digital) transactions market. Earlier, the two companies announced that they are following the directives of Chinese legislators to support Beijing's efforts in attracting more tourists and foreign investments to help the country's struggling economy recover.
According to data from the Chinese payment company "UnionPay," the value of non-cash transactions in China reaches 434 trillion dollars, with approximately 80% of consumers' total daily transactions being carried out through mobile payment platforms.
In 2019, "Alipay" and "WeChat" began allowing the use of foreign credit cards on their apps when Chinese legislators eased restrictions on such transactions and allowed specific merchants to accept these cards.
Before that, it was impossible for foreign tourists to access these platforms, as they required having a bank account with a local Chinese bank and a local mobile number as well.
