China said on Friday that, as part of its increased efforts to alleviate the payment difficulties encountered by foreign visitors, it will quintuple the transaction limit for foreigners’ mobile payments. The People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank, has deputy governor Zhang Qingsong say it will direct big payment companies like Alipay to increase the annual cumulative transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000 and the single transaction limit for foreigners using mobile payments in China from $1,000 to $5,000.
Zhang stated at a press conference on Friday that the central bank will assist payment companies so that international users can more easily connect their mobile payment accounts with foreign bank cards and expedite identity authentication processes. This will also help to facilitate foreigners’ mobile payments in China. The action is taken as China steps up attempts to address payment issues encountered by certain international visitors who use cash or bank cards, even if mobile payment is more common there. In order to address the problem, the central bank has been enabling foreign tourists to make major bank card purchases, encouraging modest mobile payments using QR codes, and ensuring cash payments only as a last resort.
Nearly 4 million foreign visitors used mobile payments in China last year, completing over 70 million transactions worth a total of more than 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion), according to data from the central bank. Zhang stated that a policy that was adopted on February 23 by China’s Cabinet, the State Council, will soon be published. The policy ensures the use of cash, encourages the acceptance of international bank cards, enhances the ease of mobile payments, and optimizes account services. In order to execute the guideline, he continued, the PBOC would set up a cross-departmental collaboration mechanism in conjunction with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
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