UK bank Santander, via its merchant acquiring partner Elavon, is enabling its business customers to join the European networks of Chinese payment wallet providers.

Santander customers will now have the option to accept Chinese payment methods via their own websites. Elavon plans to expand this functionality across its PoS solutions, which already accept UnionPay, by the end of 2018.

According to the bank, there has been significant growth in the number of Chinese expats and students living in the UK, together with the increasing spend of Chinese tourists (up 23.5 per cent to £922 per transaction in 2017) when visiting the UK.

Michael Vallance, managing director of transaction banking at Santander Corporate Banking, said: “In working with Elavon to make these exciting Chinese payment solutions available, we are not only enabling UK businesses to accept more types of alternative payments as quickly as possible; we are also giving them access to the Chinese e-commerce market where the demand for quality UK goods is continuing to increase.”

Hannah Fitzsimons, general manager for Elavon Europe, added: “Customers today are looking for a wide range of payment options. They want to pay for the goods and services they buy wherever, whenever and however they choose. With the growing spending power of Chinese consumers, it’s important that businesses offer payment brands which are familiar and accessible to this important target audience.”

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