Shanghai is looking to extensively increase the number of point-of-sale (POS) machines that accept foreign bank cards to 80,000 this year, in an effort to offer convenience to inbound travelers, officials said. That would be a significant jump from last year’s 45,000 machines, Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan said. The decision is included in a 15-item action plan that aims to facilitate the convenience of payments in the city. The plan was announced during the launching ceremony for the city’s International Consumption Season and the fifth Shanghai Shopping Festival. The action plan aims to increase the acceptance of domestic as well as international bank cards in key retail scenarios, optimizing cash services at multiple levels, enhancing the convenience of mobile payments, boosting banking services, and establishing comprehensive service centers for foreign visitors at Shanghai’s two airports. To improve cash services, the municipal government will accelerate the upgrade of the city’s self-service machines to allow cash withdrawals using foreign bank cards at Shanghai’s self-service machines.
In the meantime, 650,000 purses containing coins will be made available at venues to facilitate cash payments, while convenience stores and taxis will be encouraged to have coins and bank notes on hand so they can provide change for those who pay with cash. Shanghai also plans to increase the number of foreign currency exchange points to 319 by the end of the year. According to the plan, mobile payment services will be streamlined, including optimization of user interfaces, an increase in payment amount limits, and tailored services for the elderly. Yang Jing, an official from the Shanghai Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that since the launch of the inbound tourism promotion campaign 'Visit Shanghai' in December, the city has seen a rapid increase in the number of foreign visitors, reaching 1.19 million in the first quarter of this year, a nearly sevenfold year-on-year increase and a 6.6% increase from the last quarter of 2023, according to Shanghai Customs.
In addition to the action plan, Shanghai’s municipal government is taking other steps to provide a better payment experience for inbound travelers. For example, starting on April 15, point-of-sale machines have been added to all the service centers at Shanghai’s subway stations to facilitate the use of foreign bank cards for purchasing subway tickets. The machines can handle domestic as well as international bank cards. On April 12, 50 taxis started to accept payments with foreign bank cards. A total of 1,000 taxis with the optimized payment service are expected to be available in Shanghai by the end of June. The service will further expand to more than 2,000 taxis ahead of the seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held from November 5 to 10 in the city, the China Daily reports.
