Apps simplify expense steps for foreign users

A foreign resident uses a mobile payment app at a restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Alipay allows foreigners in China to link their international bank cards, including Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Discover Global Network, to its mobile payment tool, greatly streamlining the payment process, said Zhu Xugang, director of cross-border business at Ant Group. According to the payment guide, no IDs are required for transactions below a certain threshold when foreign visitors use mobile payment services such as Alipay, Weixin Pay and UnionPay, and some international e-wallets will be accepted by merchants in China. Both Alipay and Weixin Pay, a mobile payment service within the Weixin app designed for users on the Chinese mainland, have raised the limit of single mobile payment transactions for foreigners in China from $1,000 to $5,000 and lifted the annual cumulative transaction limit to $50,000 from $10,000 earlier. He said the scope of binding foreign bank cards should be expanded and that the authentication of new users must be improved and simplified, in order to provide more convenient payment services for foreign visitors.