WeChat Pay unveils more incentives for overseas card payments

WeChat Pay has announced additional incentives for payments using overseas bankcards in China.

New users who link their international card for the first time can enjoy a full reduction of the commission fee for consumption transactions within the daily limit of 1,000 yuan (US$136) for 60 consecutive days from the first day the service is activated, according to a latest notice released by the Chinese mobile payment system of the WeChat social media app.

In addition, all users who use WeChat Pay's foreign cards in China won't be subject to the 3 percent transaction commission for any single purchase of no more than 200 yuan.

The incentives will be available through the end of this year.

Overseas users can link their WeChat accounts with their cards from major card networks, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express, JCB, Discover and Diners Club.

There was a significant increase in transaction volume for mobile payments handled by WeChat Pay during China's recent five-day Labor Day holiday from May 1 to May 5.

The number of overseas customers, the number of payments and the transaction value nearly tripled over the five-day period, according to WeChat Pay.

The pick up in spending was partly due to China's new instant VAT refund system, which enables foreign tourists to receive instant tax rebates at the point of purchase.

A number of optimizing measures have been adopted by Tencent, WeChat's owner, to enhance the payment experience for inbound visitors to the Chinese mainland.

Users of multiple overseas digital e-wallets, such as Naver Pay, Boost, Bakong, and K Plus, can also pay at local merchants by scanning the Weixin (WeChat) Pay QR code displayed by local merchants.