Tencent and Visa Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Explore Expanding Cooperation in Payments and Commerce
Key Facts
Tencent announced on October 29, 2026, that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Visa to explore expanding cooperation across its ecosystem, bringing together cross-border payments and AI-powered commerce. Tencent said the memorandum sets out a comprehensive framework for cooperation but puts the two companies at the stage of exploring broader areas of work. These areas include cross-border payments, agentic commerce, enterprise AI and support for global business expansion. This scope gives the agreement a framework that goes beyond a single payment service, combining money flows with commerce services and international business. The practical plans announced center on facilitating payments for travelers and transfers into the Weixin Pay ecosystem, alongside exploring applications for intelligent agents.
In travel and payments, the companies plan to develop solutions that would allow travelers to and from China to pay participating merchants using TenPay Global and Visa Pay. This includes merchants operating on the Weixin Pay and Visa networks, subject to applicable regulatory requirements. The initiative would bring the two payment platforms into a single experience for cross-border users, while limiting the solutions to participating merchants. Tencent did not announce details or a launch date for these solutions in its statement, describing them only as plans for development. Company officials said they hoped to "create smoother commerce experiences for consumers and new business opportunities, in China and internationally."
The proposed cooperation also extends to remittances from outside China, with the companies planning to deepen their work through Visa Direct. The stated goal is to make it easier for more senders overseas to transfer money into the Weixin Pay ecosystem. This adds a transfer function to payment plans targeting travelers and participating merchants, connecting international senders with Tencent's payments ecosystem. The announcement does not specify the number of users targeted or the expected value of transfers, but it points to cooperation aimed at expanding channels for funds to reach Weixin Pay. Implementation remains within the scope of the announced plans, with transactions subject to regulatory requirements, according to the description of the cross-border payment solutions.
In AI-powered commerce, the companies will explore the potential use of Visa Intelligent Commerce in experiences that use AI agents to help eligible users discover, select and purchase goods or services. Visa says the proposed design keeps the experience under the consumer's control, with agents helping carry out shopping steps according to the user's instructions. The company says the system allows for agent-specific payment tokens and controls to align purchases and related authorizations with the user's authenticated instructions. The product remains under development and rollout, and may not be available in all markets, according to Visa's developer center. The memorandum of understanding therefore explores the technology's potential in commerce without announcing a joint service launch or timetable.
The move builds on previous cooperation between Visa and Tencent's international payments platform, Midas. The company said its longstanding partnership in gaming had led to cooperation in joint marketing, global payments, money movement and risk management. That cooperation now extends to Tencent's AI business outside China, according to its statement. This places enterprise AI and international business expansion among the memorandum's areas of work, alongside consumer services and transfers. The statement, however, provides no figures on the scale of the previous cooperation or the contribution of any of these areas to either company's revenue.
The announcement coincides with a separate regulatory process for Visa in China. On October 13, 2026, the People's Bank of China approved Visa's start of preparations to establish a local bank card clearing institution, Reuters reported. The approval allows the company to begin preparations for the institution but does not grant Visa a license to operate it or begin clearing operations. The company must complete preparations within one year of approval, after which it may apply to begin operations. The central bank and banking regulator will then review the application before issuing a bank card clearing license, according to the report. The process puts the preparation and subsequent licensing stages in the context of Visa's expansion in the Chinese market, without making the memorandum of understanding a local license or an announcement that operations have begun.