News

Traveling to Asia? You can now make QR code payments with Wise

Wise

20.08.26

Read time 2 minutes

Traveling through Asia often comes with one small but frustrating problem: not everywhere accepts your card. Across many parts of Asia, QR payments have become deeply embedded into daily life. In many places, they’re not just an option — they’re the preferred way to pay.

Unlike traditional card infrastructure, QR payments are often cheaper and easier for merchants to accept. Small businesses don’t need expensive payment terminals, and transaction costs can be lower too. As a result, many local businesses — especially smaller merchants — prefer QR payments over cards.

So even if your card works at large hotels or shopping malls, you’ll realise smaller local businesses may only accept cash or QR payments - whether it’s a night market in Seoul or a hawker stall in Singapore.

But for international travelers, accessing these local QR payment networks hasn’t always been easy. You often need a local bank account or e-wallet, or a separate app just to make simple everyday purchases.

That changes today.

Wise customers can now scan and pay with QR codes directly from the Wise app while traveling abroad — making it easier to pay like a local across Asia without needing cash or additional apps. (powered by Alipay+)

Whether you’re grabbing coffee in Manila, shopping in Seoul, paying for snacks at a night market in Kuala Lumpur, or exploring local stores in Singapore, you can now pay by simply scanning a supported Alipay+ QR code using your Wise app.

Here’s how Scan to Pay works and what you need to know before using it on your next trip.

A simpler way to pay while traveling in Asia

With Wise Scan to Pay, you can use the money in your Wise account to make QR code payments overseas in local currencies — seamlessly and securely.

Just scan and pay.

Pay using the Wise app you already have

One of the biggest frustrations with overseas payments is having to download and set up a new payment app every time you travel.

With Wise, there’s no need for that.

If you already use Wise to move money internationally, hold multiple currencies, or spend abroad with your Wise card, you can now also use the same app to make QR code payments while traveling.

Everything stays in one place:

Your money
Your currencies
Your transfers
Your card
And now, your QR payments too

More ways to pay

Wise Scan to Pay supports multiple ways to make payments, depending on what the merchant accepts.

You can:

Scan a merchant’s QR code using the Wise app
Let the merchant scan your QR code
Upload a QR code image for supported online or remote payments

This gives travelers more flexibility across different payment scenarios throughout Asia.

📱 Explore Scan to Pay

Transparent fees and exchange rates

As always with Wise, you’ll see any fees upfront before you pay.

And when currency conversion is needed, Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate — the same rate you’ll commonly see on Google — without hidden exchange rate markups.

That means you can spend abroad with greater transparency and avoid the uncertainty that often comes with traditional foreign card payments.

Built for global travelers

At Wise, we’re building ways for people to move and use money internationally with the same ease as they do at home.

International travelers today don’t just need a travel card. They need access to the local ways people actually pay.

With Scan to Pay, Wise customers can participate more naturally in Asia’s increasingly QR-first economy — using the same Wise account they already rely on for international money transfers, multi-currency balances, and global spending.