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another convenient payment initiative has been launched, and this time it is foreign tourists who are excited.

on september 13, beijing subway's support for foreign card swiping caused heated discussion. a beijing business daily reporter found that the subway station's card swiping gates have been completely replaced, and new contactless card swiping methods such as mastercard and visa have been added. in the view of industry insiders, this "one-tap-and-go" riding experience will continue to enhance foreigners' satisfaction and accessibility to domestic consumer services, and is also an innovative manifestation of beijing's expansion of high-level opening up and construction of an international exchange center.

beijing metro implements "one-tap-and-go" system for foreign-card passengers

there is no need to buy a ticket first and then swipe it. foreigners can just swipe their foreign bank cards on the gate to ride freely on all 27 subway lines in beijing, access all 490 stations, and the suburban railway s2 line is also supported.

on september 13, a beijing business daily reporter learned from the beijing branch of the people's bank of china that in order to improve payment convenience in key areas such as beijing's transportation and further optimize the travel experience of foreign passengers on rail transit, beijing's rail transit innovative services have been upgraded again. the city's urban subway network has 27 operating lines (including 2 airport lines, the xijiao line, and the yizhuang t1 line), 836 kilometers, and 490 stations. the entire network, all time periods, and all gates have the conditions for contactless swiping of foreign bank cards to pass through the gates. in addition, the suburban railway s2 line also meets the conditions at the same time.

on that day, a beijing business daily reporter went to the subway station to experience it and found that the card gates at the subway station have been refurbished. among them, contactless card swiping for mastercard and visa issued overseas has been officially opened. later, jcb cards will be gradually launched to serve the diversified travel payment needs of beijing residents and tourists visiting beijing.

it is worth noting that this new initiative to expand high-level opening-up is the first of its kind in mainland china. in addition to its debut on subway turnstiles, it was also officially released at the 2024 services trade fair.

a relevant person in charge of the beijing branch of the people's bank of china said that whether transportation payment is convenient is an important scene that everyone can directly observe and feel. foreign card nfc contactless payment is a payment method that foreigners are more accustomed to. under the guidance of the people's bank of china and the support of beijing, the beijing branch of the people's bank of china, the beijing municipal party committee financial office, and the municipal transportation commission have fully promoted the work of foreign card swiping to pass the gate on rail transit. to this end, they have actively coordinated with foreign card organizations and other relevant parties to study the implementation path of the work, clarified the transformation cost sharing mechanism, the cost settlement process between the acquiring institution and the road network company, and promoted the acceleration of technology development and testing. finally, the beijing metro has opened the function of contactless card swiping for foreign bank cards.

"it's so convenient! i've been looking forward to it for a long time." a foreigner told the beijing business daily reporter that one only needs to swipe the foreign card at the gate and the gate will release you in seconds with zero delay. as a result, a series of cumbersome steps for boarding the train have become a thing of the past, and payment and consumption for foreign tourists will be more convenient and smoother.

wang pengbo, chief analyst at broadcom consulting, pointed out that the subway is the lifeline of a city's travel and one of the most important application scenarios for payment tools. beijing's first foreign card swiping gate not only facilitates foreign cardholders to communicate and consume in china, but also sets an example for how payment media can interact with scenarios more conveniently. it can be seen as a pioneering move in the development of the payment industry, and also a manifestation of the people's bank of china and beijing's efforts to promote payment facilitation, which can further improve and optimize the accuracy and sustainability of payment services.

about 18,000 key merchants have achieved full coverage of foreign card acceptance

previously, beijing metro has supported multiple payment methods such as unionpay cards and qr code payment. on this basis, foreign visitors to china can use their foreign cards to swipe through the entire network, at all times, and at all gates. in the view of industry insiders, this not only enriches the payment methods for beijing's rail transit tickets, but is also another major exploration by the people's bank of china to optimize payment services and improve payment convenience.

since the beginning of this year, under the guidance of the people's bank of china, the state administration of foreign exchange and the beijing municipal government, the people's bank of china beijing branch has targeted the payment habits of different groups, insisted on coordination between the central and local governments, coordinated efforts to clear the bottlenecks in payment services, and focused on improving the multi-level and diversified payment service system to provide better-quality, efficient and convenient payment services to groups such as the elderly and foreigners coming to china.

among them, we focus on the eight key scenarios of "food, accommodation, travel, shopping, entertainment and medical care", and take comprehensive measures and make in-depth efforts in foreign card acceptance, mobile payment, cash services, foreign currency exchange, etc., to promote the significant improvement of the supply level of payment services in key areas and key scenarios. in addition, we have built payment service demonstration areas and payment service consultation centers for overseas guests at beijing capital international airport and daxing international airport. since the completion of the payment service center, it has provided consultation for foreign guests for more than 20,000 times.

as of now, about 18,000 key merchants in beijing have basically achieved full coverage of foreign card acceptance. foreign currency exchange facilities have been fully covered in four-star hotels and key cultural and tourism venues. the business processes and payment limits of "foreign card internal binding" and "outsourcing internal use" have been continuously optimized, and the number and amount of mobile payments by foreigners have doubled quarterly, making the payment experience more "smooth".

in the field of transportation, with the goal of meeting passengers' high-quality travel needs, we have taken multiple measures to continuously optimize payment services.

for example, the beijing municipal transportation card company has issued the prepaid beijing pass card, which supports more than 1,700 bus routes, 28 rail lines, and more than 20,000 taxis; the financial department has joined hands with the transportation department to provide cash services in the transportation field, providing "change purse" exchange services for taxi drivers and other groups, and taking the lead in issuing reminders to taxi drivers to resist refusing to accept cash through the driver-side app and on-board smart terminals; more than 1,000 pos machines have been deployed in high-speed rail stations, subway stations and other fields throughout the city, and ticket windows have achieved full coverage of foreign card acceptance.

continuously improve the payment service level for foreign groups

beijing is the capital of a great country and a "double olympic city". it carries the core functions of the "four centers" and provides diversified payment services to the elderly and foreign visitors to china with the highest standards, which is related to social livelihood and the image of a great country.

su xiaorui, a senior researcher at suxi intelligence, said that transportation scenarios are small-amount, high-frequency scenarios for overseas tourism consumption in china. providing foreigners with convenient card swiping functions in such high-frequency scenarios can save them from the steps of buying tickets and scanning codes, making urban transportation convenient and worry-free. this is an important innovative measure in the field of foreign card payments, as well as an effective iteration of on-site applications, which can continuously enhance foreigners' satisfaction and sense of accessibility to domestic consumption services.

"in the future, it is expected that more such convenient measures will be implemented in high-frequency areas of overseas consumption in china, pushing payment optimization work towards a more solid and refined path," said su xiaorui.

"large amount swipe card, small amount scan code, cash as a guarantee". at present, beijing is taking multiple measures to continuously optimize payment services, hoping to meet the habitual preferences of foreigners in using bank cards or cash, while giving foreign friends more choices and a smoother experience.

beijing business daily reporter learned that as of september 8, beijing has 11,400 atms that support foreign card withdrawals and 2,064 atms that support small-note withdrawals; there are 289 foreign currency exchange points that can provide normal services in the city, an increase of 156 from the end of february. the districts are promoting the construction of 13 barrier-free payment service business districts.

the beijing branch of the people's bank of china said that in the next step, it will work with relevant departments to continuously consolidate and improve the payment service level for groups such as foreign visitors to beijing, and continue to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. the capital beijing will be more open and inclusive, and provide strong support for high-quality development.

beijing business daily reporter liu sihong