Toronto Stores rush to add WeChat and Alipay as Payment Options

WeChat and Alipay have secured their popularity as the top two favourite payment options among China’s high net worth people. Now, both these payment tools have made an achievement in the Canadian market.

WeChat Pay is managed and controlled by Tencent Holdings, and it has witnessed great popularity among mobile payments in the world economy. On the other hand, Alipay is the mobile payment division of Ant Financial (Alibaba Group Holding). 

In China, mobile payments have made major achievements as an outstanding medium of payment. Apart from shopping malls and convenience stores, mobile payments are even utilized in vegetable markets and other small business payment matters. WeChat and Alipay pay have accounted for more than 95% of China’s mobile payment settlement systems with the involvement of a huge number of businesses. 

The two most popular mobile payment apps have entered Canada from China, and Toronto Stores are moving quickly to add both WeChat Pay and Alipay to accept Chinese payments in RMB.

7-Eleven Inc. too made a partnership with Citcon (cross-border payment firm) to allow WeChat Pay and Alipay at over 35 Canadian locations in Toronto and Vancouver. As a result, it has made the store even more expedient to Chinese tourists who visit the country for holidays or trade purposes. At the moment, Cadillac Fairview malls like the Sherway Gardens and Eaton Centre are also accepting both WeChat and Alipay as payment options. 

Another prominent shopping mall, Yorkdale, Scarborough Toronto Centre has already adopted both WeChat and Alipay as payment platforms by employing the gift card system. 

The affiliation with these mobile payment methods was made possible by Chinese-Canadian financial groups such as SnapPay, OTT Financial Inc, and Tourism Toronto. Payment platforms like SnapPay process all payments made from AliPay and WeChat Pay in Chinese RMB to Candian dollars. They do this by enabling AliPay, WeChat Pay, and China Union Pay for North American Merchants; permitting safe and secure online, in-app, and mobile transactions. 

Thus, in view of the development from existing payment options like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay, payment platforms like SnapPay are an improved and innovative way for Toronto stores to trade in the spending power of Canadian-Chinese residents, Chinese international students, and tourists coming from China.