Paysend, Tencent Collaborate on Cross-Border Payments

Paysend, Tencent, partnership, payments

Card-to-card and international payments platform Paysend has launched a technology partnership with Tencent Holdings’ FinTech division that will let people receive money over Tencent’s WeChat service.

According to a Wednesday (Dec. 29) news release, the partnership will let Paysend users make cross-border payments through licensed banks in China, with the funds going to bank accounts linked to the Weixin app, a version of WeChat targeting users in mainland China.

“The meteoric rise of mobile and app-based payments in China has brought convenience to the lives of over one billion people,” Alex Bessonov, group head of network development and strategic partnerships at Paysend, said in the announcement.

“This new partnership with Tencent Financial Technology expands acceptance of Paysend transfers to Weixin users, and underlines our ambition to use the most advanced technology to make payments faster and easier for millions of people around the world,” Bessonov continued.

Wenhui Yang, general manager, Tencent Financial Technology Asia Pacific, added that “companies like Paysend provide an easier, more convenient and lower cost alternative for people to send money to friends and family.”

“Ultimately, our partnership is another step in promoting openness and interoperability among the digital payment industry, thereby increasing convenience for customers who can send and receive money in the way that makes most sense to them,” Yang said.

Per the release, Paysend serves over five million customers across 135 countries.

Read more: EasyTransfer, Tencent Offer Chinese Students Platform for Overseas Tuition Payment

The partnership comes a little less than two months after Tencent Financial Technology and EasyTransfer announced they were collaboration to allow Chinese students studying abroad to make easier overseas tuition payments.

WeRemit Tuition Pay let students pay college tuition and other expenses using WeChat Pay’s payment infrastructure. The system is available to students at more than 1,200 colleges and universities in 80 counties, including the U.K., Australia, Canada and the U.S.

Read more: Global FinTech Paysend Closes $125 Million Funding Deal

In May, Paysend closed a $125 million round of Series B funding, which the company said it would use to boost its international presence and fund product and service innovation. Paysend has said it is focused on tapping the $133 trillion cross-border payments market.