Inbound Chinese visitors are among the highest-spending tourists the UK receives, and a large share of that spending happens through mobile wallets rather than cash or card (£1,563 per visit). For Chinese-owned shops and restaurants, the summer peak is when this shows up at the till. If you want to accept Chinese mobile payments this season, the setup is more approachable than most owners assume — and getting it right is the difference between capturing that footfall and watching it walk out.
Why the card machine isn’t enough
For many mainland Chinese travellers, the phone wallet is the default way to pay and a physical card is the awkward fallback — particularly abroad, where a home-country card can be inconvenient to use. When a customer reaches your counter, fills a basket, and can only pay by WeChat Pay or Alipay+, a UK-card-only terminal quietly turns that sale away. Chinese outbound travel to Britain follows a clear seasonal rhythm, predicted to be 641,000 visits this summer, so the summer weeks are exactly when a payment gap costs the most.
What your customer actually experiences
The friction most owners worry about sits on the customer’s side, and there isn’t much. The visitor opens the wallet they already use — WeChat Pay or Alipay+ — and scans your code. There’s no new app to download and no currency swap for them to manage. On your side, you receive RMB, converted to GBP at the live exchange rate set by the wallet, and the balance settles to your UK bank account on T+3 working days. Alipay+ aggregates several Asian wallets behind one acceptance point, so a single setup reaches more travellers than one app alone.
Starting small before the rush
You don’t need to overhaul your point of sale to begin. A printed QR code at the counter is enough to start accepting Chinese mobile payments, and you can add a smart terminal later if volume justifies it. Sole traders and limited companies can both open an account. Because every transaction produces an itemised, exportable record, reconciliation stays simple and your income is easy to explain when filing with HMRC. As an FCA Authorised Payment Institution, GlobePay settles at live rates on T+3 working days and gives merchants records they can reconcile and report from. For a step-by-step comparison of counter options, see our guide to QR codes versus smart terminals.
Conclusion
Summer footfall only becomes summer revenue if visitors can pay the way they already do. Accepting Chinese mobile payments means letting customers scan a familiar wallet while you receive GBP on a predictable schedule, with records clean enough for tax time. Set it up before the peak, start with a QR code, and scale as you go. Ready to start accepting Chinese payments? Get in touch with GlobePay today.
