OCBC’s First–Mover Advantage in Largest QR Payments Market
OCBC will become the first Singapore bank to enable customers to scan and pay every major merchant QR code in Mainland China through its Singapore mobile banking app, marking a breakthrough in cross-border payments integration.
The move positions OCBC to capture rising travel and spending flows into China, where QR codes dominate daily transactions, according to a media release on Monday.
The new capability stems from an expanded partnership with UnionPay International, formalised in Shanghai on 28 November 2025.
Seamless Payments for a Growing Base of Travellers
Leveraging NETS infrastructure, the OCBC app will support payments to merchants that accept Weixin Pay – also known as WeChat Pay – complementing its existing Alipay+ and UnionPay QR support. The Weixin Pay functionality will be available in the first quarter of 2026.
For OCBC Singapore customers, the enhancement removes friction from one of the world’s most cashless ecosystems. Users can simply scan any Weixin Pay, Alipay+ or UnionPay merchant QR code and have payments debited directly from their OCBC accounts.
Rising Adoption Underscores Strategic Opportunity
They avoid downloading third-party apps, topping up digital wallets, or queueing for currency exchange, while benefiting from competitive real–time exchange rates and no additional fees.
OCBC’s Scan & Pay feature is seeing robust growth, with payment volumes up eleven percent year-on-year and active users up 67 percent. Mainland China is already the top destination for these payments, frequently used for dining, attractions, and retail purchases, including duty-free goods and jewellery.
Surge in Travel Demand
The bank’s expanded QR acceptance coincides with a surge in travel demand: arrivals from Singapore to Mainland China more than doubled in 2024, climbing from 260,000 in 2023 to an estimated 535,000, according to Oxford Economics.
