KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — If you’re travelling overseas, typically you would either exchange your cash for foreign currency or use your credit, debit and prepaid cards. However, for mainland China, the payment situation is very different as QR code payments are the primary mode of payment.

Credit card acceptance is still very low and most merchants no longer accept cash in China. Even if you could find a merchant that accepts cash, you would have to provide the exact amount as not all would be able to provide the change.

If you’re a Malaysian making a trip to China, here’s how you can make QR payments like a local with Touch ‘n Go eWallet (TNG eWallet) and Alipay.

Using Touch ‘n Go eWallet in China

Under its cross-border partnership with Alipay+, TNG eWallet is among the 10 supported foreign wallets that are accepted in mainland China. This means you can use TNG eWallet to make cashless payments at over 10 million Alipay merchants in the country. There’s no need to do any currency conversation as your payments will utilise your TNG eWallet balance in MYR. You can still top up your TNG eWallet while in China but we recommend that you reload in advance before you travel.

The TNG eWallet is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and Huawei AppGallery. When you’re in mainland China, there are two ways to pay and here are the scenarios:

Scan QR Code (User scan Merchant code)

If a merchant displays a QR code, the process is similar to scanning a static TNG eWallet or DuitNow QR code. Here are the steps:

1. Launch the Touch ‘n Go eWallet app, tap on ‘Scan’ and scan the QR code.
2. The app will then load a page in Chinese which will require you to enter the amount in CNY (China’s local currency), and then tap submit. If the page requires you to select payment options, select Alipay.

Take note that it may take a few seconds to load the pages depending on your internet connection. If the page fails to load properly, you can tap on the back icon to try scanning again. Alternatively, you can restart your TNG eWallet app and try to scan again.