TenPay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payments platform, has expanded its Central Asia network with a new agreement in Kyrgyz Republic.
The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eldik Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic at the 10th Silk Road International Expo in Xi’an.
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The MoU follows TenPay Global’s recent partnership with Uzbekistan’s HUMO Pay.
Tencent said the collaborations are intended to connect Central Asian payment networks to the Weixin Pay merchant network via China’s Cross-Border Interconnection Payment Gateway (CPG), a unified cross-border QR code payment gateway under China’s central bank.
With the integration, travellers and business visitors from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian markets will be able to pay in China using their existing domestic digital wallets.
According to Tencent, users will be able to scan Weixin Pay QR codes without downloading additional apps.
Tencent Financial Technology vice president Royal Chen said: “Through the TenPay Global platform, overseas wallets can access Weixin Pay’s vast merchant network via a one-time API integration, offering low integration costs and fast time-to-market.
“Meanwhile, we have customised localised adaptations for each overseas wallet. The overseas wallets can now display real-time exchange rates and the deduction amount in their local currency, achieving a ‘what you see is what you pay’ experience for users.”
Tencent said that, under the “guidance” of the Payment and Clearing Association of China, it has upgraded Weixin Pay’s “Pay with Your Home E-Wallet” service through CPG. Under the initiative, it has partnered with more than 40 overseas wallet institutions globally.
The company said 36 e-wallets from 13 countries and regions are live. This includes Singapore’s LiquidPay, Vietnam’s Zalopay and MOMO, Laos’ BCEL, and Mongolia’s Hipay.
Among them, around ten overseas wallets are connected to the gateway through TenPay Global within six months.
TenPay Global also announced cooperation with tax refund institutions to support “tax-free shopping services” for departing tourists in key inbound provinces and cities, including Shaanxi Province.
