TenPay Global and UnionPay International have signed an MoU to explore two-way cross-border remittances, including transfers into Weixin wallets.
TenPay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, and UnionPay International (UPI), a subsidiary of China UnionPay, will jointly explore solutions for remittances in both directions. TenPay Global’s remittance platform works with more than 60 international banks and remittance institutions, supporting transfers to China from more than 150 countries and regions. The collaboration will extend the platform to UPI’s network of partner institutions and draw on UnionPay’s infrastructure to identify further areas of cooperation.
Faster transfers into wallets
Remittances to Weixin, Tencent’s messaging and payments app, are available around the clock and can arrive within one minute, with identity verification and compliance screening completed in milliseconds. According to the companies, paying directly into wallets also lowers the cost of the final stage of a transfer. UPI’s MoneyExpress service already allows individuals to send money directly to UnionPay cards through partner banks and remittance institutions, and the partnership extends that service to the Weixin wallet.
Wenhui Yang, CEO of TenPay Global (Singapore), stated that the company’s goal is to make sending money as simple as sending a message, which no company can achieve alone. According to Yang, the partnership with UPI brings that experience to more overseas users through institutions they already use, and the two companies will also explore new possibilities for cross-border payments using AI.
Supporting G20 remittance goals
Xia Zhi, General Manager of the Innovative Products Department at UnionPay International, stated that the partnership extends UPI’s remittance services to the Weixin wallet, giving customers a wider choice of remittance options. The collaboration comes as the G20’s roadmap for cross-border payments, launched in 2020, aims to make such payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent by the end of 2027, with remittances a key focus.
UPI works with more than 2,600 financial institutions across 183 countries and regions, with UnionPay acceptance at more than 110 million merchants and 1.8 million ATMs outside mainland China, and UnionPay cards issued in 86 countries and regions. Tencent’s payment services are also expanding their international links, with Samsung Wallet Money users now able to pay at WeChat Pay merchants in China.
