Stripe, the financial infrastructure platform for businesses, is expanding its global partnership with Tencent, the China-based multinational technology conglomerate, making Weixin Pay, also known as WeChat Pay, available on Stripe Terminal in 20 countries.
From Australia and Canada to France, Germany, Italy, Singapore, the UK, the US, and beyond, businesses powered by Stripe can now accept Weixin Pay/ WeChat Pay online and in person with Stripe Terminal.
By centralising payment data from all sales channels in one dashboard, Stripe’s Terminal offers businesses a comprehensive view of payment data across online and in-person channels. Businesses can leverage this information to improve customer experiences and increase revenue.
This partnership, which began in 2017, broadens the collaboration with Tencent to bring a unified commerce experience for merchants and their customers alike.
The Chinese consumer market extends to the global Chinese diaspora living, working, and studying outside China, representing over 50 million people. An earlier analysis of hundreds of Stripe’s users around the world shows that by adding Chinese payment methods like Weixin Pay, many have seen their revenues from overseas Chinese consumers double. Stripe says it anticipates further growth to this number with the in-person solution available with Stripe Terminal.
“Working with Stripe to expand our international reach and strengthen our unified commerce efforts is a natural next step in our journey,” said Monica Zheng, managing director of Weixin Pay Oceania. “Stripe’s global network and payment infrastructure makes it easy for businesses to accept payments from customers using Weixin Pay quickly and safely—wherever they are in the world.”
Reaching Chinese customers across the globe
Launched in 2013, Weixin Pay is the CNY-denominated digital wallet inside Tencent’s lifestyle all-in-one app Weixin. Weixin is available to over 1.3 billion monthly active users, which provides a central point of access for Weixin users to create and share content as well as for merchants to engage with and grow their community.
With Weixin Pay integrated on Stripe, merchants can enable a faster and more secure way for customers to pay online and in-person with a saved payment method or stored balance, cut down on fraud claims and chargebacks with two-factor authentication.
Merchants can also leverage the Global Gift Pack Mini Program offered by Weixin Pay. This Mini Program enables brands to forge deeper connections with their target audience within Weixin’s ecosystem.
“Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in the strategic partnership between Stripe and Tencent,” added Paul Harapin, chief revenue officer, Asia Pacific, at Stripe. “We’re thrilled that our longstanding partnership with Tencent continues to make it easier than ever for global businesses to reach overseas Chinese consumers.”
Torrens University Australia, one of the leading universities in the country, uses Stripe for international payments and fraud protection. The university enabled Weixin Pay to make it easier to accept tuition fees and related payments from overseas Chinese students.
Elsewhere, HungryPanda, the Asian food delivery giant, also widened its reach to more Chinese customers in the UK by adding Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) to its Stripe setup.
