While Canadians eagerly await the launch of Android Pay and Samsung Pay, Chinese messaging app WeChat’s ‘Pay’ platform is coming to Toronto businesses.
Tourism Toronto announced a partnership with Canadian finance conglomerate OTT Financial Group to introduce the payment platform to “boost travel and shopping consumption by Chinese travellers.”
“Our partnership will allow us to stregnthen our role as a global leader in innovation among the Chinese market,” said Johanne Belanger, president and CEO of Tourism Toronto, in a media release.
WeChat is China’s largest messaging application, with over 840 million active users. The app allows users to book appointments, make reservations, make payments, in addition to a number of other features.
“Through this agreement, Chinese tourists, while visiting Ontario, will be able to pay for products and services directly in Renminbi from their WeChat Pay app on their mobile phones,” said Michael Chan, Ontario’s minister of international trade.
According to Tourism Toronto, China is the largest overseas market for Toronto,with almost 300,000 visitors spending approximately $275 million CAD in the region every year.
The WeChat deal is the latest in several business ventures proposed by Chinese groups looking to invest in Canada.
Source: Tourism Toronto
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