Chinese tourists change global merchant payment model-mobile payments worldwide

South Korean media said, according to the South Korean CU chain convenience store News, the first 8 months of this year, the number of Chinese customers mobile phone payment increased 7 times times, in July to patronize the South Korean CU store of Chinese customers, 90% use mobile phone payment.

Photo from: Xinhua News Agency

According to the yonhap news agency Seoul on August 30, in the first quarter of this year, the number of mobile phone payments by Chinese customers increased by 311.2% compared with the same period last year. In the second quarter, when Chinese tourists to South Korea gradually increased, the number of mobile phone payments surged by 887.3% compared with the same period last year.



Reported that the CU convenience store in July sales from the Chinese customer-specific means of payment, mobile phone payments accounted for the first time to reach more than 90.6%, UnionPay card payment fell to less than 10% of the level.

The report also said, following Alipay, WeChat payment, the South Korean CU convenience store in July to support China UnionPay card scanning code to pay, so July and August mobile phone payments to 10 times times the same period last year.

Reporters understand that similar situations not only appear in South Korea, with the spread of mobile payments abroad, Chinese tourists change the global merchant payment model-mobile payments worldwide.

Mobile payment heating up

In recent years, the number of Chinese outbound tourists has continued to grow, with the number of residents making outbound trips reaching 77941,000 in the first half of this year, up 14.1 percent year-on-year. According to a report jointly released by the China tourism academy and ctrip big data joint laboratory, the number of outbound Chinese tourists will reach 30 million in July and August alone.

With the rapid growth of outbound trips, consumer spending abroad has also risen markedly. According to the report, the international tourism expenditure of Chinese tourists increased by 5% in 2017, about $3300 per capita abroad.
Financial services are inseparable from outbound consumption, and traditional financial institutions and emerging financial institutions are eyeing the business opportunities of outbound travel and escalating cross-border financial services.
The popularity of mobile payments abroad exceeded expectations this year, which is inextricably linked to the active expansion of global business by payment agencies.



This summer, the Moscow souvenir shop owner Elias learned the Chinese language “你好（Hello）,谢谢(Thank you),支付宝(Alipay)”, she opened the mobile payment at the beginning of the World Cup played a role in the arrival of a large number of Chinese tourists to make her business than usual several times better.

“With the spring breeze of the World Cup, the Russian summer Alipay trading volume soared 75 times times. Chen Jiayi, Head of the international business of Ant Financial, said that the countries where the summer Alipay trading volume grew faster were mostly located in Europe and Australia. With the increasing number of Chinese tourists choosing long-distance and high-end tours, the interest of mobile payment in European and Australian merchants is increasing.

During the summer, the transaction volume of alipay in Canada increased 12 times, Australia increased 6 times, New Zealand increased 7 times, and Finland increased 5 times

At present, Alipay has access to hundreds of thousands of merchants in more than 40 countries and regions, and in 9 countries and regions have cooperated with local brands to complete the layout of the domestic wallet; Tenpay’s WeChat payment access has increased to 40 countries, supports 13 currencies (including renminbi) direct settlement, and has obtained Malaysia’s payment licence.

In addition, the rigid demand for Chinese outbound tourism-“tax rebate”, a number of financial institutions are actively upgrading services to avoid the long waiting time for cash rebate, the need for currency exchange and other issues.