WeChat Pay enters Paris, with eyes on entire Europe

World
Europe

Chinese tourists visiting Paris will now be able to pay for their shopping in two of the city's famous department stores with their smartphones, after the local retailers adopted the payment app of the popular Chinese social media network WeChat.

The Galeries Lafayette group said on Wednesday that shoppers at its flagship Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and BHV Marais stores could now check out with WeChat Pay.

A Chinese customer prepares to pay with WeChat in Bangkok, Thailand, May 5, 2017. In many other countries, payment with WeChat and Alipay is becoming a new trend. /Xinhua Photo

The feature is integrated into Tencent-owned WeChat, which had more than 938 million active monthly users earlier this year, allowing payment via a linked bank card.

The service, available to Chinese merchants since 2014, has been expanding internationally since 2016.

The WeChat Pay in France is being backed by the Paris-headquartered international banking group BNP Paribas, which subsequently plans to introduce the facility across Europe to provide retailers the opportunity to streamline the shopping experience for the 7.4 million Chinese tourists who visit the continent each year.

"We’re now offering the most comprehensive range of payment solutions on the market aimed at the Chinese customers of our retail sector clients," Pierre Fersztand, global head of cash management at BNP Paribas, said in a statement.

The WeChat Pay in France is being backed by the Paris-headquartered international banking group BNP Paribas, which subsequently plans to introduce the facility across Europe. /Reuters Photo

The integration with WeChat Pay follows a similar agreement struck by BNP Paribas with the rival Chinese payment service Alibaba, which has been aggressively pursuing deals for its own Alipay app with Europe's biggest payment processors, banks and vendors of electronic funds transfer at point of sale (eftpos).

Another Parisian department store, Printemps, has opted for Alipay.

Between them, AliPay and WeChat command a 63 percent market share in digital payments across China and are using their experiences to drive into other aspects of financial services and into new geographies.

WeChat opened an office in London earlier this year and began talks with major European luxury and fashion brands and payments institutions to accommodate the brand at the checkout.

Thieves target Chinese tourists

Paris is a major draw for Chinese tourists, where surveys show they are top spenders.

The Galeries Lafayette group said its shops welcome 15 million foreign visitors per year and wanted to provide "its Chinese customers with a familiar, convenient and secure payment environment... directly on their smartphone."

Well-heeled Chinese tourists have become targets for thieves, with Beijing urging France on Monday to "crack the case" of a Chinese tourist group which was tear-gassed and robbed in Paris last week.

According to French media, 40 tourists were mugged by individuals who sprayed tear gas on them when they were on their way back to their suburban hotel last Thursday.

The robbers made off with bags reportedly filled with luxury items.

A statement from the Chinese embassy in France noted on Saturday that "several large-scale violent robberies" have recently taken place involving Chinese tourists in Paris. /AFP Photo

China has urged French police to "crack the case as soon as possible", foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a press briefing last week.

Beijing's embassy in France has warned Chinese to "raise their security awareness" in the country, Hua said.

"We will continue to follow the developments of this case and urge the French police to put these lawbreakers to justice and take measures to ensure the security of Chinese nationals in France."

A statement from the Chinese embassy in France noted on Saturday that "several large-scale violent robberies" have recently taken place involving Chinese tourists in Paris.

Hua said the tourists returned to China last Friday. A police investigation is underway.

Tourism to Paris has rebounded since France was hit by terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016. Paris saw a record 2.6 million foreign arrivals in the first four months of this year - a 19 percent increase over the same period in 2016.

(With input from agencies)

8226km