Internet giant Tencent has got into an association with China’s largest payment provider China UnionPay and its subsidiary UnionPay International for the purpose of offering cross-border mobile payment services for Hong Kong residents.
This will also allow the users to use the Hong Kong version of WeChat Pay on the mainland. The major objective behind this step is to further promote integration between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. This is being done to make life and work easier for Hong Kong people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The users of WeChat Pay HK will be able to enjoy a range of cross-border mobile payment services on the mainland such as visiting restaurants, booking train tickets and hailing cars from October.
“The cross-border mobile payment will greatly increase the collaboration opportunities for businesses both in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland,” said Jim Lai, vice-president of Tencent and head of Tencent Financial Technology.
“This exchange of culture, talent and the stimulation of economic activity across a wide variety of sectors will serve to strengthen relationships between the two sides.”
Following this deal, the digital platform will be linked to UnionPay for fund transfers to ensure the finance and settlement process of each wallet. WeChat Pay HK has expanded its usage to more segments, such as allowing local users to buy metro tickets with their digital wallets and settle credit card bills.