The Southeast Asia region maintains its leadership in mobile payment usage among Chinese tourists, with Singapore and Thailand positioned at No. 1 and No. 6 in the global ranking thanks to the region’s maturity in mobile payment solutions, according to a report from Nielsen and Alipay.
The report is based on a survey of 4,837 Chinese travellers and 547 overseas merchants.
Other countries on the list of Top 10 countries where Chinese tourists love to use mobile payments include South Korea, Japan, Australia, France, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In Singapore, almost all (97%) merchants indicated steady improvement compared to the previous year in terms of mobile payment usage and the amount of mobile spending by Chinese tourists.
Nearly two-thirds (66%) of surveyed merchants in Singapore, South Korea and the UK hope to carry out more digital store operations through Chinese mobile payment platforms and hope to further their promotional and marketing activities leveraging Chinese mobile payment platforms.
Just under two-thirds (63%) of merchants surveyed in Singapore, South Korea and the UK said that they are likely to recommend Chinese mobile payment systems to their industry peers.
“Chinese mobile payment engagement level and the depth of usage among Chines tourists continued to increase, indicating a more in-depth development of Chinese mobile payment solutions globally,” said Justin Sargent, president of Nielsen China
“As such, overseas merchants are showing a more open attitude towards the application of Chinese mobile payment platforms and digital operations,” Sargent said. “More overseas merchants may deepen their use of Chinese mobile payment platforms to go digital.”
Among all the countries surveyed, the usage of Chinese mobile payment in Singapore, South Korea and Japan was highest, with Singapore in the leadership position.
In Singapore, 77% of Chinese tourists use mobile payments for their transactions. Total spending via mobile payment of Chinese tourists increased significantly in countries where Chinese mobile payment adoption is relatively mature.
The total amount spent by Chinese tourists increased by 14% in Singapore and Thailand and 23% in Japan and South Korea between 2018 and 2019.
