Mastercard boosts consumption with payment experience and innovation

As China intensifies its efforts to expand domestic demand through national strategies, Mastercard is positioning itself as an enabler of the country's consumption-driven growth.

According to Mastercard's annual economic outlook, as the disinflationary environment eases the burden on consumers, the Asia-Pacific region will witness tight labor markets and a catch-up in inflation-adjusted wages by 2025. This is expected to contribute to increased spending, particularly on discretionary items, including big-ticket purchases.

In China, final consumption expenditure accounted for 44.5 percent of the country's economic growth in 2024. This highlights its crucial role in stabilizing the economy amid global uncertainties, and aligns with China's "all-round domestic demand expansion" policy blueprint.

Inbound payment

Against this backdrop, Mastercard has witnessed a surge in inbound tourism to China, with the total number of inbound tourist visits approximating 94.63 million in the first three quarters of 2024, marking a 78.8 percent year-on-year increase.

To accommodate this influx of people, Mastercard has launched its "Pay Like a Local" program in China, aiming to further establish a card-based payment ecosystem. For example, by partnering with Alipay and WeChat, Mastercard has enabled overseas cardholders to tap into China's thriving digital consumption landscape. Thanks to these initiatives, the number of active Mastercard accounts on these wallets grew nearly 10-fold between January 2023 and May 2024.

Furthermore, in June 2024, Mastercard and the Beijing Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced the relaunch of the "Priceless Beijing" project, highlighting key areas of passion such as culinary, entertainment and cultural experiences. This underlines the strength of partnerships and payments in enhancing tourism and consumption, while reaffirming Mastercard's commitment to providing priceless experiences for inbound tourists to China.

Three months later, Mastercard enabled international visitors to use their overseas-issued cards for Tap & Go payments at all Beijing rail transit stations, enhancing inbound payment convenience.

"Payment is the catalyst for consumption vitality," said Dennis Chang, executive vice-president and division president, Greater China, Mastercard. "When an inbound tourist seamlessly buys robot-served noodles in Beijing or a rural artisan sells embroidery via QR code to international buyers, that's how Mastercard fulfills its corporate mission of powering economies and empowering people."

Domestic market

Beyond cross-border transactions, Mastercard's joint venture, Mastercard NetsUnion, received formal approval from the People's Bank of China to commence bank card clearing activities in November 2023. Transactions started in May 2024, allowing Chinese cardholders to use their New China Mastercard products both domestically and internationally, exploring the world with just one card.

Notably, the establishment of Mastercard NetsUnion solidifies Mastercard's position as a widely accepted payment brand across the world. In China, Mastercard has undoubtedly become a valuable brand for Chinese cardholders and a capable preferred partner in the field of payment services.

Mastercard not only boasts a large interconnected acceptance network, diverse payment methods, and widely applied payment technologies and standards, but it has a team of professionals with both global vision and local expertise, according to the company.

Specifically, by collaborating with local issuing and acquiring banks and merchant partners, the New China Mastercard bank card products offer exceptional benefits and features tailored to diverse needs, effectively stimulating the consumption willingness of cardholders.

"Payment is involved in every consumption; in other words, no payment, no consumption," said Chang. "By aligning our strategies with China's, we look forward to continuously connecting China with the world, while contributing to the development of a stronger engine for China's consumption-led growth."