Vietnam and China Expand Cross-Border QR Payment Connectivity

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Vietnam’s NAPAS has expanded QR payment connectivity with China, giving Chinese tourists a new way to pay at local merchants.

The move was made possible through a partnership between NAPAS, Ant International and Vietcombank.

Under the rollout, Chinese visitors can use Alipay to scan VIETQRGlobal codes and pay at participating merchants in the NAPAS network across Vietnam.

The payment option is available at shopping malls, retail stores, restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions.

The transactions run through the linked infrastructure of NAPAS and Ant International, with Vietcombank serving as the settlement bank and supporting payment processing between the Chinese yuan and the Vietnamese dong.

Nguyen Quang Minh, General Director of NAPAS, said,

“Cooperation with Ant International is an important milestone in NAPAS’s journey to expand cross-border connectivity, as Vietnam’s national retail payment infrastructure will directly connect with China’s leading payment ecosystem with over 1 billion users.

This connection will allow Chinese tourists to experience familiar, convenient, and secure QR code payment methods as in their own country, while also creating more growth opportunities for Vietnamese businesses.”

Vietcombank described cross-border QR payments as an increasingly common option for international transactions and noted that it had committed resources to the project in its role as settlement bank.

Douglas Feagin, Chairman of Ant International, said,

“Ant International helps partners apply international payment methods, including Alipay, to be accepted by retailers worldwide, promoting international payment interoperability and cross-border trade.”

NAPAS and Ant International also plan to complete deployment of the next phase of the service soon.

This will allow Vietnamese travellers in China to use their domestic banking apps to scan Alipay QR codes and make payments there.

NAPAS is continuing to expand the VIETQRGlobal acceptance network through partnerships with banks, payment intermediaries and businesses.

It has so far completed bilateral QR payment connectivity with Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and China, and plans to expand to more markets in the region.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by Vietnam Banking Association