Chinese Giants: Which Payment System to Choose?

When moving your business overseas, it is very important to consider local rules, technical requirements and work facilities. For business in China, these features also include choosing a payment system suitable exactly for you. AliPay, WeChatPay and UnionPay are the biggest and the most popular payment solutions for the Chinese companies.

Their technical features and scope of work are pretty much the same but there are slight differences, which have to be considered. WeChatPay was established by the most popular social media messenger in China - WeChat. This payment service is a stable service that has also the partnership outside China, so it is not very complicated to perform external payments.

There is a small fee for withdrawing money from the WeChatPay ecosystem created to advice users to keep their money inside the service. At the same time, you have ability to pay and transfer money directly through your WeChat account and even send your friends gifts with one click. If your business requires clients who are regular users of the social network, it is a good choice.

AliPay started on the online shopping platform and firstly was designed to control your purchases on the website. Now it has more features and covers the simplest needs of the payer. The main disputable part is that AliPay closed all foreign representatives and if you want to use international transactions regularly, it is not a good idea. It supports 18 currencies at the moment and also all internal transactions are free: you pay if you withdraw the money or if you are a merchant.

The last hero in the list of QR code-based mobile payment markets is China UnionPay (CUP). This payment service was established after the previously mentioned ones and they decided to pursue all customer needs. CUP supports almost all currencies and all necessary payment options. Before establishing QR code-based service, UnionPay had a stable number of customers using its debit/credit cards. CUP has status of the third largest credit/debit card brand in the world and creating additional scope of service helped this company develop. Also, transaction fees apply only for merchants in most cases and average user can freely operate his account. CUP overseas market also works stably because a big part of company’s clients travel all over the world and need to use payment services.

While establishing the business or moving your company to China, you should carefully analyze the payment systems offered and choose the best and the most suiable one. Offshorelicense Ltd consultants are ready to inform you on the best opportunities and at the same time we will be ready to accompany the establishment of your business overseas.