WeChat Pay Arrives in Vietnam, Completing China's Big Three

[WeChat Pay Arrives in Vietnam, Completing China's Big Three]

Chinese tourists in Vietnam can now pay by scanning a local QR code with WeChat. On August 6, Vietnam's national payment switch NAPAS, Weixin Pay (WeChat Pay) and the bank BIDV announced the expansion of cross-border QR payments between Vietnam and China. Visitors can scan VietQRGlobal codes, the standard QR that Vietnam rolled out for international travelers, at retail shops, restaurants, hotels and tourist sites nationwide. No cash exchange, no international card needed.

WeChat Pay is built into the WeChat app and counts more than 1 billion users, making it one of China's most widely used mobile payment tools. Transactions run through the link between NAPAS and Weixin Pay, with BIDV acting as settlement bank and building out the merchant network. Phạm Anh Tuấn, head of the payment department at the State Bank of Vietnam, called the connection another step in taking Vietnam's digital payment infrastructure international.

This is the third Chinese platform to plug in, and the rollout has been quick. The starting point was October 2024, when UnionPay International and NAPAS signed a memorandum during Chinese Premier Li Qiang's visit to Vietnam, witnessed by both prime ministers. UnionPay went live in December 2025, with ICBC and Vietcombank as settlement banks on each side; early acceptance points included Central Retail supermarkets, Highlands Coffee stores and Sun World attractions. Alipay followed in April 2026 through NAPAS, Ant International and Vietcombank, processing transactions directly between yuan and dong. With WeChat Pay's launch, all three major Chinese payment platforms have connected to Vietnam in a little over eight months.

The reason is in the visitor numbers. Vietnam welcomed about 25 million international tourists in 2025, with tourism revenue topping 1 quadrillion dong (about 39 billion USD) for the first time. This year is running faster: nearly 14 million international arrivals in the first seven months, up 13.8%. China leads with about 3.1 million visitors, roughly 22% of the total. NAPAS CEO Nguyễn Quang Minh said the WeChat Pay link completes the QR puzzle for Chinese tourists and takes VietQRGlobal into the world's largest outbound travel market.

Ben Yang, who runs Weixin Pay's Southeast Asia and North America business, put it plainly: tourists paying the way they do at home spend more and stay longer. The company also flagged what comes after payments — Vietnamese businesses reaching Chinese consumers through WeChat's marketing tools, destination platforms and mini programs. None of the three parties disclosed merchant fees.

China is only part of the map. NAPAS already runs two-way QR connections with Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, meaning Vietnamese users can scan and pay in those countries with their own banking apps. Korean tourists can pay in Vietnam one-way. The newest link is Singapore: on July 2, NAPAS, Singapore's Liquid Group and VietinBank launched a service that lets Singaporean visitors scan VietQRGlobal with their home apps, converting Singapore dollars to dong in real time, reaching about 3 million users initially. NAPAS calls Singapore its sixth connected country.

For China, though, traffic still flows one way — Chinese visitors can pay in Vietnam, but not the reverse. WeChat Pay's reverse direction is under study with no timeline. UnionPay's was originally slated for early 2026; NAPAS said in June that the Vietnam-to-China and Vietnam-to-Korea directions should be done by year-end, with Vietnam-to-Singapore also planned within the year.

NAPAS deputy CEO Nguyễn Đăng Hùng described the strategy in June as building a regional QR payment map — one where users can pay across borders without switching apps.

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