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Tencent and Visa Expand Partnership for AI Cross-Border Payments

By Drooid · Oct 29, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

Tencent and Visa expanded their partnership to boost cross-border payments and AI-driven commerce.
The MoU will explore easier payments for travelers entering and leaving China.
Visa Direct will enable overseas users to send funds into Tencent’s Weixin Pay ecosystem.
The partners will develop AI-agent commerce that helps consumers discover and purchase products.
Dowson Tong, Tencent’s senior executive vice-president, said the deal merges AI with Visa’s network.

History

After the People’s Bank of China licensed third-party providers in 2010, Ant Group expanded Alipay into a cross-border platform and captured 55.6% of China’s mobile-payment market by 2020. Building on that scale, Tencent signed a 2024 MoU with Visa to pair Weixin Pay with Visa Direct, echoing the cross-border payment model pioneered by Ant Group.

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After the People’s Bank of China licensed third-party providers in 2010, Ant Group expanded Alipay into a cross-border platform and captured 55.6% of China’s mobile-payment market by 2020. Building on that scale, Tencent signed a 2024 MoU with Visa to pair Weixin Pay with Visa Direct, echoing the cross-border payment model pioneered by Ant Group.

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