EXCLULSIVE—Payments platform Adyen will now support popular Chinese mobile payment service WeChat Pay at the point-of-sale for Adyen merchants, the fintech announced today.

As part of the company’s “unified commerce” solution, the capability is an expansion of Adyen’s previous integration with WeChat, which allowed consumers to use the payment method for online goods.

The majority of customers using WeChat Pay will be Chinese tourists, making this capability an important one for merchants in the U.S. and Europe, Rolenat Prins, COO for Adyen, told Bank Innovation.

“The payments market in China has changed so much over a short period of time, very significantly,” Prins said. “Chinese tourists are becoming more and more important for brands across the U.S., Europe, especially in retail because they are spending $5,000, $6,000 when spending abroad.”

Chinese consumers purchasing “luxury goods” were responsible for approximately $7.4 billion in annual spending, according to an August McKinsey report.

So it is key for merchants in these regions to be ready to support the preferred payment methods of the Chinese tourist, Prins said.

This is why Adyen allows its merchants to accept Alipay, UnionPay, and now WeChat Pay — the three largest mobile payment services in China — at the point of sale. WeChat alone currently has upwards of a billion users.

Aside from popular Chinese mobile payment services, Adyen does offer support for U.S.-based platforms like Android and Apple Pay. These platforms have not experienced the same type of boom as Chinese mobile payments, for good reason, Prins said.

“There was a big opportunity for change [in China]. There was a need because of all of the cash in the system. The U.S., Europe, we’ve had electronic banking,” Prins said. “We’re used to a secure and fast method of electronic payment which makes the need for change less prevalent.”

Mobile growth is more likely to come from other cash-heavy, developing economies, Prins said—markets such as India, for instance.

“[This is] happening in India in the next few years,” Prins predicted.

To learn more about the latest developments in mobile banking and payments, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to register.