Chinese Tourists Use Mobile Payment Abroad More than Cash

About 69% of Chinese tourists sampled have used mobile payment while traveling overseas , 4 percent up compared to last year, and more than 3 out of every 10 payments of Chinese tourists are made by mobile payment during outbound travel , according to the latest whitepaper jointly issued by Nielsen, a global leading information and measurement company, and Alipay, the world's largest mobile and lifestyle platform. According to the whitepaper, the use of mobile payment for overseas consumption is no longer a privilege for young people. Mobile payment has already benefited Chinese tourists of all ages , and 68% of the users are people born in the 1970s and 1960s.

In addition to bringing a better experience for Chinese tourists to travel abroad, in fact, after accessing China Mobile payment, this payment system has further stimulated the digital transformation of local offline entities in operations and marketing, bringing to merchants vitality and opportunities. For example, over 50% of the merchants surveyed said that after accessing Alipay, the flow of Chinese tourists has increased, and the turnover of stores has also increased accordingly .

In order to understand the development trend of China’s mobile payment in overseas markets, Nielsen and Alipay have released a whitepaper named 2018 trends for Chinese mobile payment in outbound tourism focusing on the application of  payment when Chinese tourists travel overseas and the attitudes of overseas merchants, especially in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which provides insight of the opportunities and challenges of China's mobile payment brand's overseas development.

According to the whitepaper, outbound travel becomes more popular among Chinese tourists due to easier visa process. More than half of the first-tier city residents have traveled to Hong Kong, Macao, Japan or South Korea in the past year, and short-distance travel has become their common leisure lifestyle . In addition, the average yearly spending and the number of destinations on overseas tour have also increased significantly for second-tier city residents , making them a new force in overseas travel.

In 2018, Chinese tourists extend their destinations to further places , and personalized tourism has become a new trend. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and Southeast Asia are still the most popular destinations for outbound travel. The fast-growing outbound travel market and personalized demand prompted more Chinese tourists to go deep into more adventurous destinations such as Central Asia or Africa to experience cultures and cuisines which are different from frequently visited travel areas. As a typical example of pioneering tourists, the post-1990s tourists visited Central and Western African countries (18%) this year, while 5% traveled to Nordic countries. These destinations include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

While paying attention to travel destinations, Nielsen also observed the consumption habits of Chinese tourists traveling abroad. In 2018, the top three sectors of outbound  Chinese travel consumption are still shopping (25%), accommodation (18%) and dining (16%).

The importance of shopping quality has become one of the top three factors influencing Chinese tourists' purchasing decisions . At the same time, more Chinese tourists choose to shop in roadside and specialty stores, suggesting that shopping experiences have become a new trend when Chinese travel abroad.

With the expansion of footsteps of Chinese tourists, mobile payment, as a convenient and safe paying method, has already occupied a position in the overseas travel payment market, and has shown a trend of further development. In 2018, 69% of outbound Chinese tourists used mobile payment at their destinations . Last year, the usage rate of mobile payment increased by 4 percentage points, becoming closer to bank card payment and cash.

At the same time, compared to last year, the proportion of mobile payment in the total number of Chinese tourists payment transactions has increased. Judging from payments of Chinese tourists’ latest outbound travel consumption, more than 3 out of every 10 payments were made by smartphone, which has exceeded cash payment .

As for the use of mobile payment for different age groups, in 2017, the proportion of mobile payment for outbound travel for the 1970s and 1960s generation was significantly lower than that of the people born in the 1990s and 1980s. In 2018, mobile payment has already benefited outbound Chinese tourists of all ages . The mobile payment usage rate of older Chinese tourists surveyed has reached 68%, which is close to the frequency of young people; For post 1970s and 1960s, there is also a strong willingness to use mobile devices to pay. 88% of them will take the initiative to ask whether stores support mobile payment , which increased 14 points compared with last year.

93% of Chinese tourists stated that they may have more willingness to consume or shop in the future when more overseas merchants support China’s mobile payment . As merchants at destinations have increased access rates for mobile payment, the barriers to using mobile payment abroad have been further reduced for Chinese tourists. In addition, the overseas merchants accessing China’s mobile payment are increasingly diversified, especially in the local supermarkets, duty-free shops, and quality shopping scenes. The prototype of Chinese tourists’ travelling without cash has emerged . These scene changes have jointly affected the willingness of Chinese tourists to consume.

In addition to providing more convenience for Chinese customers, China’s mobile payment has also brought new vitality to local merchants. According to the whitepaper, 40% of the local merchants clearly stated that after adopting China’s mobile payment, the overall passenger flow of the store rose up .

Local merchants have observed that mobile payment is one of the most common paying methods for Chinese customers who have strong willings of using it, unlike tourist from other countries that using mobile payment as just a supplement to cash and credit card. For example, in the case of a merchant surveyed, 90% of merchants encountered Chinese customers that ask if mobile payment was accepted in their store.