Tencent has launched TenPayGo, a WeChat Pay-developed app letting foreign visitors to China pay with international cards and wallets.
The app enables overseas travellers to pay at tens of millions of restaurants and shops across Tencent’s payments network using Visa, Mastercard, and Apple Pay. The app puts Tencent in direct competition with Alipay, operated by China-based Ant Group.
Services beyond payments
TenPayGo does more than accept payments. Visitors can use it to order food deliveries and book ride-hailing services, and it includes tools for identifying objects and translating menus. Together, these features are meant to help tourists use the wide range of digital services that underpin daily life in China.
That range is largely organised around ‘super apps’ such as Tencent’s WeChat. These cover restaurant bookings, food deliveries, taxis, and retail discounts. Foreign visitors have often struggled to use some of these services without a Chinese phone number or a locally issued payment method.
Competing with an established platform
Tencent is entering a segment where Ant Group has a significant head start. Ant opened its payment platform to foreigners in 2019. At the time, tourists were finding it increasingly difficult to use cash or foreign cards as China moved rapidly towards mobile payments. Since then, Alipay has become the default option for many international visitors in the country’s largely cashless economy.
TenPayGo accepts major international card schemes and Apple Pay. This gives travellers a way into Tencent’s merchant network without first getting local credentials, which has long been the main obstacle for foreign users of China’s domestic payment systems.
