Further international growth for WeChat Pay

WeChat Pay is set to accept international bank cards for the first time.

The move, which has been reported by several specialist tech and finance publications, will see the popular Chinese payment platform accept Mastercard and Visa cards for the first time. 

Chinese online payment platform WeChat is accepting Mastercard and Visa cards for the first time. [File Photo: IC]

This should not only help any Chinese users, such as expats, who have overseas bank accounts - but it should also help WeChat Pay as it potentially prepares to roll-out in more countries.

The news comes after EJ Ward reported for us in 2017 that WeChat Pay is rapidly expanding internationally.

At the time, the firm had partnered with Wirecard to offer WeChat Pay services in Europe.

Jörn Leogrande, Executive Vice President Mobile Services at Wirecard, said: "We are proud to be one of the first WeChat Pay partners for POS acceptance in Europe.''

''This collaboration is an additional step for us to offer retailers a whole range of alternative and classical payment methods with just one interface where other payment methods can be added regularly.''

''Thanks to our ConnectedPOS platform we are able to integrate them with minimal intervention in the existing cash register. We are looking forward to expand our business and to offer WeChat Pay for customers all over Europe."