Citi and Bank of Shanghai Team on International Travel Payments

Citi and the Bank of Shanghai have teamed to streamline payments for visitors to China.

The payments solution announced by the two banks Wednesday (Nov. 13) is designed for the Bank of Shanghai’s TourCard — a prepaid card created specifically for overseas travelers to make mobile payments in China — letting visitors add funds to their TourCard digital account with Bank of Shanghai from another source.

“Mobile wallets have become the dominant payment method in China, with over 84% of users utilizing them for transactions in the past year,” Citi said in a news release. “However, international payments are often impacted by credit card acceptance issues, high interchange costs, and foreign exchange charges, causing friction in the process.”

With the Citi/Bank of Shanghai solution, travelers can access local currency in China by connecting a Bank of Shanghai CNY virtual account to their respective digital wallets in the Bank of Shanghai TourCard mini-app….