Tencent rolls out payment app for foreign travellers ahead of Apec summit

Tencent Holdings on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a mobile payment app targeting foreign visitors, as the tech giant seeks to capture China’s growing inbound tourism market ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen.

Developed by Tencent’s WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo allowed international travellers to make payments at tens of millions of shops, restaurants and attractions across the WeChat Pay network by linking their credit cards or their home-country digital wallets to the app, according to a company announcement on Thursday.

The app supports seven international card networks, including Visa and Mastercard, as well as about 60 overseas digital wallets, with Starryblu from Singapore among the first batch of partners.

Previously available in limited test versions on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, the app requires an email address to register, offering a simpler onboarding process for overseas travellers. Many apps in China require users to sign up with a local phone number.