The People’s Bank of China recently convened a meeting of financial institutions to discuss how to offer more convenient payment methods for visitors from overseas in the near future, to solve the challenges that many tourists are facing in using their own credit cards and currencies.

Alipay will link arms with more card issuers and overseas e-wallets so that a greater number of foreign tourists can travel freely in China using the payment methods they are most familiar with, said Jing Xiantong, chairman and chief executive officer of the country’s biggest payment app, who was among the representatives from the country’s largest state-owned lenders, joint-stock banks, card issuers and payment platforms who attended the meeting.

Bank of China will coordinate with industry players to provide a variety of payment methods, including cards, cash, scanning quick response codes and digital yuan, said Wang Zeyu, general manager of the lender’s personal digital financial department.

China UnionPay has issued 230 million UnionPay cards in 81 countries and regions, and all these cards are supported in China, said Hu Haozhong, executive vice president of the world’s biggest debit card provider.

The measures will help increase the acceptance of overseas cards at shops, which has been a big problem in the past, and make it easier for foreigners to exchange small amounts of cash at foreign exchange dealers as the amount spent by overseas visitors continues to climb.

The amount spent by foreigners during the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday last month jumped 30 percent from a year earlier, Hu said.

Users in over 10 countries and regions can link their UnionPay cards to Apple Pay accounts, Hu said. Foreigners in China can also apply for e-money cards through the UnionPay App to meet short-term payment needs in China.

Previously China’s financial institutions had mainly focused on expanding the acceptance of overseas cards at shopping outlets, ensuring that foreign credit cards can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs and that money could be changed at forex exchange points.

Fonte- Yicai