WeChat Allows Users To Link Overseas Credit Cards

Expats living in China and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are now allowed to bind and activate WeChat Pay accounts with credit card services provided by MasterCard, Visa, and JCB, according to a Sina news report.

In mainland China, mobile payments range from purchasing cars to paying for a bottle of coke, and many expats had complained of being unable to enjoy cash-free services due to not owning a locally issued bank account, which needed to be linked to the WeChat account for payment.

Now WeChat users without a Chinese bank debit account or a credit card can activate WeChat for mobile payments in China, Tencent said in a statement, adding that users will need to download the mainland-WeChat version to open up services.

After activating WeChat payment account, expats, just like the hundreds of million Chinese WeChat users, are able to pay for a cab via an app, rent sharing bikes, or place orders for takeaway food.

A 2017 Tencent report indicated that nearly two thirds of foreign residents in China used WeChat Pay to make payments in the country.

During the second quarter of 2017, mobile payments in China reached 23 trillion yuan ($3.6 trillion), up 22.5 percent from the previous year, according to a local research agency. It added that the market was dominated by two major players, Alibaba and Tencent, owning 53.7 percent and 39.1 percent of the market share respectively.

WeChat's global users are reaching 1 billion, Tencent also previously announced. In China, about 600 million people are using WeChat to communicate with others, making it the most popular messaging tool in the country.

PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVERAGE

Apple-based retail tech shows mobile at the core of commerce

Third-party tech vendors and Apple itself are using iOS technologies to streamline retail transactions.

WhatsApp launches Android app for business accounts

After a small pilot test, WhatsApp Business for Android is now available for SMBs to manage their presence on Facebook's messaging platform.

Toyota's e-Palette and 5 reasons why it could reinvent commerce

Qualcomm's system-on-a-chip will power Internet of Things devices that use Naver and Line's Clova AI platform.

JD.com expands into fresh food supermarkets in Beijing

JD.com, one of the two major ecommerce platforms in China, followed the steps of its rival Alibaba and launched its first offline high-tech supermarket in Beijing last week.

Walmart testing fully-automated store with no cashiers or checkouts (TechRepublic)

Computer vision will aid the initiative, dubbed Project Kepler, which is similar to the Amazon Go concept in Seattle.