CHINA’S mobile payment platform WeChat Pay, the payment arm of WeChat, the instant-messaging app operated by Tencent, will enter Italy for the first time, the company announced Monday.

The statement, which follows a deal with Docomo Digital, a digital payment solutions provider, is the latest salvo by WeChat Pay in its competition with its largest rival, China’s Alipay, for the burgeoning market created by Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

In Italy, the payment technology will be enabled by Docomo Digital. Chinese travelers will be able to make a payment through the WeChat app on their phone, by scanning the bar code on the payment terminal hosted by retailers. As part of the same deal, the digital marketing company Digital Retex will help partnered retailers host an official WeChat account that will be used to promote the brands’ activities.

WeChat has 980 million active users per month. In 2017, WeChat Pay was used by Chinese consumers at an average rate of one million transactions per minute, according to WeChat Pay’s own estimates.

The announcement means Italian brands can sign up to accept payments via WeChat Pay. So far, none of them installed a payment terminal, meaning Chinese shoppers will still need to wait a while before such payments will be accepted.

WeChat Pay started exploring opportunities across Europe in 2015 by opening an office in Italy, although actual payment only became available in 2017, initially in the United Kingdom and France, through partnerships with several European payment facilitators including French bank BNP Paribas.

So far, the number of retailers signing up to the WeChat Pay network is limited, but Fausto Caprini, CEO of Digital Retex, sees huge potential and cites the anticipated flow of Chinese tourists to Europe as a key factor.

(SD-Agencies)

(Xinhua)