So, did you see that new app called “TenPayGo” popping up in the Apple App Store? It’s definitely sparking some chatter about whether Tencent is finally rolling out its own standalone payment solution.
Turns out, the developer listed is Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited, and the interface is all in English. NUPIAO checked it out ourselves, and while the app is technically live, if you try to sign up, you’ll hit a wall: it says “Internal Testing” is currently active.
According to recent reports, Tencent has clarified things straight away. TenPayGo isn’t a competitor to WeChat; it’s more like a “digital life concierge” designed specifically for visitors from overseas coming to China. Think of it as a one-stop shop for digital services, with mobile payments being the star feature. Right now, it’s still in a small-scale beta test, so don’t expect to download it and start using it everywhere just yet.
From what we’ve seen so far, the design is surprisingly clean and simple. Once you link your bank card, you get a payment QR code to show merchants, or you can scan theirs to pay. You can also keep an eye on your transaction history. The cool part? All this power runs on top of the existing WeChat Pay infrastructure.
In terms of where you can use it, TenPayGo covers all the bases: shopping, dining, transport, hotels, tourist spots, and even healthcare. Basically, if you’re a foreign visitor, you won’t need to hunt for cash or fumble with coins. Just head to any merchant that accepts WeChat Pay—online or offline—and you’re good to go. And get this: they plan to roll out more local transport and lifestyle features down the line.
Here’s the thing though: this isn’t Tencent’s first time dabbling in cross-border payments. Back in July 2023, they announced that international users could already link their foreign credit cards to WeChat Pay and use it at most restaurants, transit hubs, hotels, and stores across China. Whether you’re scanning to pay or getting scanned, using mini-programs, setting up auto-pay, or paying inside an app—it’s all supported.
Then in April 2024, under the guidance of the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China, Tencent’s e-CNY team stepped up with some slick innovations like “barcode interoperability” and “quick wallet payments.” The goal? To make the digital yuan experience smoother for incoming travelers. Once a foreigner sets up a digital yuan wallet, they can visit over a million pilot merchants and simply scan WeChat Pay merchant codes using the digital yuan app.
With travel numbers bouncing back globally, making mobile payments easy for foreigners in China has become a hot topic for both regulators and the fintech industry.
We saw big moves in July 2023 when both WeChat Pay and Alipay upgraded their overseas user services, allowing international cards to be used almost everywhere in China.
By March 2024, the People’s Bank of China dropped a “Payment Guide for Foreigners,” clarifying that visitors have plenty of options: mobile payments, cards, or cash. Specifically for WeChat Pay, you can link Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, and Discover. Plus, the phone number verification doesn’t even have to be a Chinese number anymore; as long as it can receive SMS codes, you’re in.
On May 13th, Tencent Holdings released its Q1 earnings report, showing impressive growth. Revenue hit 196.46 billion yuan, up 9% year-over-year. Non-IFRS operating profit came in at 75.63 billion yuan, also up 9%. But here’s the kicker: if you strip out the impact of new AI products, that non-IFRS operating profit actually jumped 17% to 84.4 billion yuan. Free cash flow for the period was a healthy 56.7 billion yuan.
The Q1 report also highlighted their Fintech and Enterprise Services segment, which brought in 59.885 billion yuan, a 9% increase. Most of that growth came from commercial payments and wealth management services. Enterprise service revenue surged 20%, driven by rising demand both domestically and abroad, a spike in AI-related service needs, and increased transaction volumes via WeChat Stores.
Profitability looks strong too. That same business segment generated a gross profit of 31.176 billion yuan, a 13% jump—faster than their overall revenue growth. The company explained that this margin expansion is thanks to economies of scale from cloud services and a better revenue mix in fintech. Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine; increased depreciation and operating costs related to AI did eat into some of those gains.
