China’s central bank encourages local businesses to accept foreign payment cards

BEIJING — China is encouraging banks and local businesses to accept foreign bank cards and is considering other steps to make mobile pay for international visitors even easier, said Zhang Qingsong, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China.

“Banks and vendors (such as hotels, restaurants, department stores and even coffee shops) are encouraged to accept foreign bankcards,” Zhang said.

His written comments, exclusive to CNBC, come as Beijing has stepped up efforts to encourage visits from foreign tourists and business people. In the last few months, authorities have enacted visa-free travel policies for residents of several European and Southeast Asian countries — after stringent border controls during the pandemic.

Mobile pay took off in China in the last several years. But while it’s been convenient for locals to scan a QR code with a smartphone to pay, financial system restrictions have also meant foreigners often found it difficult to make payments. Shopping malls have increasingly preferred not to accept foreign credit cards.

But that’s started to change in recent months.

Last summer, the two dominant mobile pay apps WeChat and AliPay started allowing verified users to connect their international credit cards — such as those from Visa. Tencent owns WeChat, while AliPay is operated by Alibaba affiliate Ant Group.

“We are fully aware that foreign visitors care very much about their privacy,” Zhang said “We take this issue seriously and have put in place measures for information protection.”

“Now, when using Alipay or WeChat Pay, foreign visitors do not need to provide ID information if their total annual transaction volume is under $500,” he said. “It is estimated that over 80% transactions are below this threshold. We are also looking at the possibility of raising the $500 threshold in the future.”

Zhang…