Unifree Duty Free has become the first retailer in Turkey to offer WeChat Pay transactions at Istanbul International Airport.

WeChat Pay users, can now make payments easily and contactless via the application. Once of the most common Chinese payment systems, WeChat Pay has more than 800 million monthly active user accounts. The system handles one billion daily transactions and allows payments in 60 countries.

The payment service was officially introduced at Istanbul Airport with an online signing ceremony. This was attended by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Culture and Tourism Minister; Cui Wei, Istanbul Consul General of the People’s Republic of China; Gao Xiangyang, Chairman of Board of Directors, ICBC Turkey; Ali Şenher, CEO, Unifree; and Kadri Samsunlu, CEO, IGA, who was recently the subject of an exclusive interview with TRBusiness.

Currently, 65% of passengers visiting Unifree’s 133 local and international stores at Istanbul Airport are Turkish. Unifree also noted that 25% of sales in departures and 60% of arrivals sales come from Turkish travellers.

HIGH-SPENDING CHINESE CONSUMERS

Chinese travellers, however, spend twice as much as their local counterparts and the most per transaction.

Speaking at the signing ceremony Şenher (pictured left) said: “We are very happy to take this step with ICBC Turkey, as they are the first bank to stand by us from the very beginning of this project by stating their support.

“Here, at the biggest airport in the world, which is the pride of Turkey, we have successfully implemented this project by working with our esteemed IGA Family.

“We are happy to add another ring to our common achievements, with the WeChat Pay application that offers great convenience for our guests.”

He added: “We will be pleased to welcome our Chinese friends at our airport and stores.”

Gao Xiangyang of ICBC Turkey commented: “İstanbul Airport which has an important role for international aviation, is the first to provide the WeChat Pay payment opportunity to Chinese visitors in order to satisfy their visitor expectations.

“The importance Istanbul Airport attaches to technology and passenger service level is gladly in line with our bank’s priorities.”