Citi (NYSE: C) and Bank of Shanghai launched a first-of-its-kind payments solution on Bank of Shanghai’s TourCard. The TourCard aims to provide international travelers a straightforward, cost-efficient and more streamlined Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY) payment journey while traveling in China.
The payment service is facilitated by Citi’s industry-leading USD Clearing solution and its full-value transfers, which ensures the final beneficiary receives their money at full value with no deductions. The innovation helps enable travelers to add funds to their TourCard digital account with Bank of Shanghai from another source, helping to make the payment experience smoother when settling expenses locally.
Mobile wallets have become the dominant payment method in China, with over 84% of users utilizing them for transactions in the past year.1 However, international payments are often impacted by credit card acceptance issues, high interchange costs, and foreign exchange (FX) charges, causing friction in the process. With Bank of Shanghai’s TourCard solution powered by Citi, travelers can get access to local currency in China by linking a Bank of Shanghai CNY virtual account to their respective digital wallets in the Bank of Shanghai TourCard mini-app. The funding and final return of funds will happen through a Citi full-value transfer solution, powered by Swift Go and using Citi’s proprietary SwiftGo converter.
Swift Go is Swift’s fast, secure and predictable low-value payments solution that offers end-to-end visibility on payment status, as well as transparency on fees and FX costs.
“Our collaboration with Bank of Shanghai provides an end-to-end solution for international travelers so they can enjoy their travel experience throughout China without having to worry about their payment method. This is another example of how our Services business continues to deliver integrated payments solutions for our clients and their customers.” – Dawid Janas, Head of Global Clearing and FI Payments, Citi Services
Bank of Shanghai’s TourCard is a prepaid card specifically designed for overseas travelers to make mobile payments in China. After they enter mainland China, overseas travelers can apply for a TourCard online via Bank of Shanghai or China-based digital wallet apps, and it is valid for 90 days from the date of issuance. Bank of Shanghai is the first bank approved by Chinese regulators for the TourCard flow.
“This innovative product we developed with Citi enriches the top-up channel of TourCard. We are convinced that our optimized service will enhance payment convenience and provide overseas travelers with an excellent mobile payment experience in China.” – Hu Debin, Vice President and CIO, Bank of Shanghai
“Around the world, people are expecting more when they move money across borders – more speed, certainty and choice. This is a great example of how we are working with our community to raise the bar, enabling new options for financial institutions to elevate the experience for their customers.” – Kevin Wong, Chief Executive, APAC, Swift
Citi’s USD Clearing enables financial institutions (FI) to make USD payments across Citi’s 1,500 FI customers globally, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays in the United States. Citi now has more than 200 FI clients using its 24/7 USD Clearing service since 2022.
