Alipay and WeChat Pay expand abroad (2015–2019)
Chinese tourists drove Alipay and WeChat Pay to build QR payment merchant networks across Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, often with tax-rebate and marketing incentives for stores.
Chinese tourists paid abroad with their home apps, and merchants gained a new, high-spending customer base.
The apps normalized QR payments for international tourists and pushed local wallets to open acceptance networks.
Shows tourist demand can pull a new payment method into merchant networks—the dynamic stablecoins now aim to repeat in Korea.
