Foreigners Can Now Use WeChat Pay Directly with Their International Cards - No Need to 'Top-Up' a Virtual Prepaid Card

Last week, Alipay introduced a Tour Pass mini-program which allows international visitors to top-up a virtual prepaid card (valid for 90 days) issued by the Bank of Shanghai for use on the platform. Through a major partnership with the main card issuers, foreigners (essentially visitors without a Chinese bank account) will be able to use their cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Global Network and JCB) on WeChat Pay without having to purchase a virtual prepaid card.

Photo Credit: WeChat

Alipay and WeChat Pay make up over 90 percent of the total market share for mobile payments in China and while it is still possible to use cash when visiting China, it is a little bit of an inconvenience in most instances. At the time of writing, Alipay only accepts Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Diners Club cards but WeChat Pay currently supports American Express and Discovery Global Network cards (even though it is unclear when Diners Club cards are supported).