Samsung Electronics has signed an MoU with Tencent and Woori Bank allowing Samsung Wallet Money users to pay at WeChat Pay merchants in China.
Samsung Wallet Money is a prepaid payment service that users top up in advance through accounts at Woori Bank and other banks, and until now it has mainly been used in South Korea. Under the agreement, Galaxy smartphone users travelling in China can pay at restaurants, shops, and other WeChat Pay merchants across the country by QR code, without setting up a separate local payment method. They can either display a payment QR code on their phone for the merchant to scan, or scan a QR code displayed in the store with their phone.
Fees, rewards, and payment options
Users pay no overseas payment fees on these transactions and receive 0.3% of offline payment amounts back as Samsung Wallet points, with no cap on how many points they can earn. This means travellers are not charged extra for using their home wallet abroad, while still earning rewards on their spending. Samsung also supports contactless payments at near-field communication (NFC) terminals overseas, including in China, where users tap their phones to pay, giving them two ways to pay depending on the merchant.
Samsung plans to extend QR code payments in China to credit cards in the first quarter of 2027. This would allow users to pay WeChat Pay merchants using credit cards stored in Samsung Wallet, rather than relying only on a pre-loaded Samsung Wallet Money balance. The roadmap points to Samsung building out the QR option in China in stages, starting with its own prepaid product before adding cards.
Expanding Samsung Wallet abroad
Chae Won-chul, Executive Vice President of the Digital Wallet Team in Samsung Electronics’ Mobile eXperience division, stated that the company has extended the convenience of Samsung Wallet Money, already established in South Korea, to users travelling overseas. According to Chae, Samsung will continue to work with global partners to provide payment experiences suited to the requirements of local markets.
The agreement is part of a wider effort by Samsung to expand what its wallet can do. Samsung Wallet has also partnered with Sui to let its 82 million US Galaxy users hold and send USDC directly in the wallet, without network fees. In China, the WeChat Pay link gives Samsung Wallet Money users access to Tencent’s merchant network through a payment method they already use at home, with Woori Bank providing the banking connection behind the service.
