Chinese internet giant Tencent has enabled overseas users of its digital payments service, WeChat Pay, to link their accounts to international bank cards Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover Global Network, and JCB.

Photo credit: Tencent

Under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China, the collaboration allows overseas users to use WeChat Pay for shopping, restaurants, transportation, and accommodation expenses. Tencent said it will support more payment scenarios by stages in the future.

“Currently, there are more than 950,000 foreigners working in China, and the country has cumulatively issued 336,000 overseas talent work permits in 2018,” Tencent said in a statement. “However, the inconvenience of not being able to use the widely adopted local mobile payments is becoming a major pain point for overseas people living or visiting mainland China.”

The move will help WeChat Pay tap into the increasing number of international tourists traveling to the country. For 2018, China saw around 141.2 million inbound tourists, an increase of 1.2% over the same period in the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Meanwhile, Ant Financial’s Alipay, WeChat Pay’s biggest rival in China, has also opened up access to its mobile payment platform to foreign visitors. Overseas users can use an international version of the Alipay app for 90 days without having to register for a Chinese bank account. Previously, users in China needed a local bank account to use Alipay or WeChat Pay.

Tencent said it looks to continue exploring further collaborations with industry partners to provide more services to overseas users in mainland China.