Money Outflow

Myeongdong is a very popular neighborhood for tourists to buy things in Seoul.
Myeongdong is a very popular neighborhood for tourists to buy things in Seoul.

 

The China Construction Bank is focusing on the sale of its platinum credit card that provides a 5 to 15 percent discount at the Lotte Duty Free Shops in Korea. At the same time, the bank is planning to open an online shopping mall dedicated to Korean products next month so as to attract Chinese tourists interested in Korea. More than 70 Korean cosmetics vendors have already signed up for the shopping mall.

Many other Chinese IT companies are striving to win in Korea, too. Chinese-language ads for Alipay, Union Pay, and many more are easily found downtown in Seoul, especially in the Myeongdong and Euljiro areas.

Under the circumstances, duty-free shops and department stores in Korea are forming an increasing number of partnerships with Chinese companies. Alipay is available at both online and offline duty-free shops of Lotte. 7-Elevens and Lotte Department Stores brought in Alipay in April this year, too. At the duty-free shops, more than 55 billion won (US$48 million) was paid via Alipay in the first half of last year alone.

Tencent is increasing the number of its TenPay partners in Korea as well. Late last year, it was added as a payment method available on the Chinese-language version of the website Interpark. 7-Elevens, Shilla Duty-free Shops, and cosmetics shops are expected to follow the same way soon.

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