Tourists from China are now getting easier in shopping while travelling in Indonesia with the launch of the WeChat Pay service in collaboration with CIMB Niaga after obtaining approval from Bank Indonesia. This service is made possible with the support from Arash Digital (Jakarta) and SwiftPass Global Ltd (Shenzhen) as System Integrator and Technical Service Provider (TSP).

Chinese tourists travelling to Indonesia continue to increase every year. For the last 3 years, on average of 2 million tourists marked their footprints in several top tourist destinations in Indonesia. The launching of WeChatPay allow users to directly make digital transactions at various merchants who have collaborated as if they were shopping in their country.

WeChatPay can only be used by Chinese citizens who have opened an account on the platform from their savings account or credit card at banks in China. Thus, the presence of the WeChatPay will not compete with local e-wallet platforms such as OVO, Gopay, Go Mobile, Dana, LinkAja, etc.

With those facilities, Tourists from China will enjoy safer, easier and more comfortable shopping experience. Thus, the transaction volume of MSMEs and other merchants in Indonesia that have collaborated with CIMB Niaga is expected to increase significantly.

For the Indonesian government point of view, this service will increase tax revenue. Furthermore, Indonesia become a host that provides memorable experience through ease of digital payment. Hopefully this will invite more and more tourists from China to visit Indonesia.

Beside WeChatPay, Arash Digital - SwiftPass is committed to support the availability of digital payments for Chinese tourists through AliPay and Union Pay who will collaborate with Bank BUKU 4 to comply with Bank Indonesia regulations. Furthermore, Arash Digital - SwiftPass is also developing outbound crossborder payments for Indonesian digital wallets (OVO, Gopay, Go Mobile, Dana, LinkAja) so that they can be used in other countries.

The Covid-19 pandemic is currently happening and severely impacting tourism industry globally, including Indonesia. Currently, Arash Digital-SwiftPass and CIMB Niaga are carrying out consolidation and preparations so affected related services could deliver optimal advantages when the pandemic have recovered. We all pray that #IndonesiaTangguh in facing this pandemic.