Sri Lanka to launch WeChat Pay for Chinese tourists

A Sri Lankan bank said on Wednesday that Chinese tourists visiting the island country could pay for their goods and services through the WeChat Pay facility in order to attract more Chinese tourists.

Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, one of Sri Lanka's leading private banks, said the WeChat Pay channel would be made available through a special Point of Sale (POS) device that would be provided to merchants who attract Chinese clients in Sri Lanka.

Commercial Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer S. Renganathan said that as Sri Lanka was a country popular among Chinese tourists, this payment solution would not only increase the convenience for them, but would also enable Chinese travelers to use a payment option they were familiar with.

Commercial Bank said interested merchants could request the Bank to provide them with the special POS device.

Once this is in place, visiting customers could choose multiple WeChat Pay payment methods to make payments through QR codes.

"This solution also enables them to view the value of their purchases and pay for them in yuan or any major currency of their choice, without losing out on currency conversion rates," the bank said in a statement.

China has become one of the leading markets for Sri Lanka Tourism with the government targeting at least 1 million Chinese tourists per year by 2020.