An announcement on Thursday, Nov 12 revealed that upwards of three million DBS PayLah! users can now complete QR transactions across a network exceeding 100 million partner merchants tied to Alipay and Weixin Pay throughout mainland China.
The expansion arrives as outbound travel surges. Between July and September, foreign visitors took 11.6 million trips to the nation, representing a 15.6 percent rise compared to the same timeframe in the prior year, based on data from China’s National Immigration Administration. Singapore ranked among the top 10 source countries for foreign visitor arrivals during that timeframe.
DBS said that customers have the option to scan a merchant’s QR code or display their own for scanning purposes. There are no additional transaction fees for the service. Before confirming any purchase, customers can view the payment amount in Chinese yuan, the applicable foreign exchange rate, and the exact total in Singapore dollars. To utilize the new capabilities, users must update their DBS PayLah! app to the latest version.
DBS said that, in addition to its current UnionPay QR integration, it stands as the sole banking institution in Singapore providing QR transaction support across all three primary Chinese QR payment networks.
DBS PayLah! users can now pay at more than 100 million merchants across China https://t.co/fz0SbG77Gk
“Payments are key to discovering everything China has to offer, especially as customer interest in ‘China-maxxing’ continues to rise,” said Calvin Ong, head of consumer banking group at DBS Singapore.
Ong added that the partnerships with Ant International and TenPay Global provide users with payment flexibility in China while enabling merchants to continue operating their existing payment infrastructure.
This rollout follows a similar regional expansion last month, when DBS PayLah! extended its overseas QR payment network to Taiwan, enabling travellers to transact at more than 250,000 participating merchants.
Other financial institutions in Singapore have also established cross-border payment corridors into China. In February, OCBC introduced a service enabling customers to scan and pay Weixin Pay merchant QR codes through the OCBC app, alongside existing Alipay+ and UnionPay options.
However, while OCBC customers can generate their own QR codes for Alipay+ and UnionPay payments, that specific generation option is not available for Weixin Pay transactions, distinguishing the dual-capability models offered across local applications.
DBS confirmed that users must ensure their mobile application is fully updated to access the new merchant network. The real-time currency conversion display is built into the transaction flow, allowing customers to review yuan-to-Singapore-dollar exchange rates prior to final authorization.
The update became available to customers on Thursday, Nov 12, across mainland China’s extensive retail network.
