{
  "id": 9499020,
  "title": "Tencent rolls out payment app for foreign travellers ahead of Apec summit",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/tencent-rolls-out-payment-app-for-foreign-travellers-ahead-of-apec-9499020",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-24T05:19:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Tech",
    "slug": "scmp-tech",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3368544/tencent-rolls-out-payment-app-foreign-travellers-ahead-apec-summit"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On Thursday, Tencent unveiled TenPayGo, a mobile payment application aimed at foreign travelers, as the company aims to tap into China's burgeoning inbound tourism sector ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen. Created by Tencent's WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo enables international visitors to conduct transactions at tens of millions of establishments, ranging from shops and restaurants to attractions, within the WeChat Pay ecosystem by connecting their credit cards or home-country digital wallets to the app, per a company statement released on Thursday. The app accommodates seven major international card networks, such as Visa and Mastercard, alongside approximately 60 overseas digital wallets, with Starryblu from Singapore among the inaugural partners.\n\nPreviously accessible through limited test versions on the Apple App Store and Google Play, TenPayGo now features a streamlined registration process requiring only an email address, contrasting with many Chinese apps that mandate a local phone number. In addition to facilitating mobile payments, TenPayGo allows foreign tourists to use a QR code to access Shenzhen's bus and metro systems, eliminating the need for a local phone number or physical transport card. Harnessing Tencent's artificial intelligence technology, the app provides instantaneous menu translations, aiding users in ordering food, and enables object identification by scanning and circling items on the screen.\n\nTencent is collaborating with local banks to introduce a tax-refund feature through the app, as announced by the company. The launch of TenPayGo, Tencent's inaugural mobile payment application specifically tailored for international visitors to China, coincides with the city of Shenzhen's preparations for a surge in foreign visitors during the Apec summit. Shenzhen, a prominent technology hub in southern China's Guangdong province, will host the Apec Economic Leaders' Meeting in November, marking the third Chinese city to host such an event, following Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014. This launch also highlights Tencent's strategy to capitalize on the increasing number of international arrivals in recent years. The company has been broadening its support for overseas digital wallets, enabling travelers to utilize these wallets for payments in China via their domestic apps without downloading WeChat. Tencent's collaboration with PayPal earlier this year facilitated US travelers to pay WeChat Pay merchants in China directly through the PayPal app. As inbound tourism continues to grow, transactions made through overseas accounts on WeChat Pay in China have surged by over 80 percent in the first eight months of 2026, both in volume and value compared to the previous year, according to Tencent.",
  "summary": "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…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Tencent rolls out payment app for foreign travellers ahead of Apec summit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/tencent-rolls-out-payment-app-for-foreign-travellers-ahead-of-apec",
        "published": "2026-09-24T05:19:05.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}