U of T Bookstore locations are now accepting payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay, two popular China-based mobile pay apps. Purchases can be made through these platforms using devices at the cash register at all four locations: St. George, Mississauga, Scarborough, and the Varsity Sports store at UTSG.
According to Lotta Lindblom, Vice-President Retail at the University of Toronto Press, U of T Bookstores, which is the retail arm of the University of Toronto Press, decided to implement this payment method to keep up to date with the market.
“The reason why we started accepting WeChat pay and AliPay is part of our way to… ensure that we are servicing the community in the best way possible,” said Lindblom. “These payments methods are preferred payment methods for Chinese consumers… [and] have exploded in usage during the past five years.”
WeChat Pay and Alipay combined have over 1 billion users worldwide, compared to Paypal’s 203 million active accounts in 2017.
Using WeChat Pay and Alipay, customers can link their bank accounts to these apps to pay for goods, while also knowing the exact currency rate for RMB and CAD, according to Lindblom.
In addition to WeChat Pay and Alipay, U of T Bookstore will continue to accept cash, debit, credit, and U of T Bookstore gift cards. TCards are also accepted at all locations except UTM.
