Sri Lankan private bank joins tech giant to offer payment mode through instant messaging platform for Chinese tourists
The Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka has reportedly tied up with a unit of tech giant Tencent Holdings in order to offer the facility of making payments through instant messaging platform WeChat for Chinese tourists. Accordingly, Chinese tourists will be able to make payments including in yuan.
Chinese tourists visiting Sri Lanka now have the added benefit of purchasing goods and services and paying for them through ‘WeChat Pay’, the Commercial Bank has said in a statement.
This was consequent to a partnership between the Commercial Bank of Ceylon and Tenpay Payment Technology Ltd., owned by tech giant Tencent Holdings, known for its WeChat social-media network with more than a billion monthly active users around the world, the statement has further noted.
“As the country attracts many Chinese tourists, the bank believes this solution will not only increase the convenience factor for them, but also enable Chinese travellers to use a payment option they are familiar with,” Commercial Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive S. Renganathan has been quoted as saying.
According to the Bank, the ‘WeChat Pay’ channel will be made available through a special Point of Sale (POS) device that will be provided to merchants who attract Chinese clientele in Sri Lanka.
Interested merchants can request the bank to provide them with the special POS device, the Bank has stated.
Once this is in place, visiting customers can choose multiple ‘WeChatPay’ payment methods to make payments through QR codes.
Commercial Bank has further explained that this solution also enables them to view the value of their purchases and pay for them in Yuan or any major currency of their choice, without losing out on currency conversion rates.
The mobile app is brought to the Sri Lankan market by Commercial Bank in partnership with Wells Digital Infrastructure (Pvt) Ltd., and Swift Pass Technologies Co. Ltd., an electronic payments solutions provider which facilitates Commercial Bank’s acquiring of ‘WeChat Pay’ transactions in Sri Lanka, the Bank has added.
OSL take:
The move by Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank to offer easy and quick digital payment modes to Chinese tourists visiting the country would be an added incentive when promoting Sri Lanka as a tourist/business destination in China. Sri Lanka has recorded a continuous increase in Chinese tourists as well as Chinese businessmen visiting the country. Therefore, offering easy digital payment modes for Chinese visitors would make Sri Lanka more attractive as a tourist as well as a business destination. The latest move could also be used as a pilot project by other private banks to explore similar methods to introduce to tourists from other nations as well. All these are indicative of Sri Lanka’s expanding economy as well as business opportunities. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka.
| Article Code : | VBA/AT/11012019/Z_1 |