Similarly, Aug. 8 has been designated Cashless Day, an annual activity promoted by WeChat Pay, the e-payment arm of China Internet giant Tencent.
In addition to China, WeChat Pay covers more than 130,000 overseas businesses in 13 countries and regions, supporting settlements in 10 currencies, including the British pound, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen and Canadian dollar.
Catherine Hou, president of the Chinese Cuisine and Hospitality Association of Canada, said she had been working to make WeChat Pay available at the upcoming Mississauga Mid-Summer Night Music and Food Festival set for July 29 and 30.
"Mobile payment can greatly benefit Chinese tourists coming to spend their summer holiday in Canada, as well as Chinese Canadians, who are active users of Chinese e-payment," Hou said.
Tourism Toronto announced plans in May to bring WeChat Pay to Toronto.
In addition to WeChat Pay, 450 merchants in Canada are getting access to e-payment solutions offered by Alipay, Souheil Badran, president of Alipay North America, announced in Toronto on June 5.
Globally, Alibaba's e-payment arm, Alipay, has entered more than 200 countries and regions supporting settlements in 18 varieties of currencies with more than 40 million overseas merchants using Alipay for settlement.
"With the mobile payment services in more countries, Chinese tourists tend to carry less cash abroad than before," said Zhao Kun, a tour guide at CITIC Travel.
Zhao said convenience was the main reason for using mobile payment.
SECURITY CONCERNS
However, the seeming panacea for payment transactions has also aroused security concerns.
Digital payment enables merchants to receive detailed information about consumers, including phone number and email addresses, compared with traditional credit and debit cards, which mainly involve purchases receipts.
"I use mobile payment a lot in China, but I am quite concerned about my privacy," said Li Xinyu, a student from the Republic of Korea at Tsinghua University. "I am afraid my personal information might be leaked."
Only a small amount of money, about 1,000 to 2,000 yuan (147.74 to 295.48 U.S. dollars), is usually stored in my Alipay account, Li added.
"Maybe a credit card is safer. Alipay or WeChat is more convenient. I am more confident in the use of credit card because they barely go wrong. If the battery smartphone dies or there is no wifi, I cannot use Alipay or WeChat to pay," Primiceri said.
Although the mobile payment giants are seeking to expand their overseas service, tour guide Zhao Kun told Xinhua that some tourists, especially senior ones, have worries about the safety of paying via Alipay and WeChat when travelling abroad, despite the rising popularity of mobile payment in most North American and Southeast Asian countries.
The Chinese government is obliged to maintain a fair and square marketing environment and bring the mobile payment enterprises into full play, said Pan Helin, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.
