Digital payments are embedded into everyday life in China: payments through messaging app WeChat have risen from circa US$11.6 billion to an estimated US$1.2 trillion from 2012 to 2016, according to a study by the United Nations¹ while separate analysis by Hillhouse Capital found that WeChat Pay accounted for 40% of mobile transactions in China in the first quarter of 2017².

"Mobile payments play a key role in the day-to-day life of China's digitally savvy population," said Adam Tiberi, senior vice president, strategy and product, Western Union Business Solutions. "Being able to use WeChat Pay and other popular payment platforms is crucial for Chinese students. As the largest international student population in the world, Chinese students expect universities to offer them simple and convenient payment experiences. Our latest update to GlobalPay for Students allows our education customers to provide an enhanced experience for their Chinese students."

"China accounts for about a quarter of international students in the world," said Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift Limited. "The country is instrumental in shaping the trends for international student payments. This poses a huge opportunity for academic institutions across the world to attract Chinese students by providing appropriate payment opportunities. We are delighted to build on our existing alliance with Western Union to further enable this opportunity."

Western Union launched its enhanced GlobalPay for Students platform in 2017 to enable academic institutions to more efficiently reconcile, refund and track payments from international students. Designed with an intuitive mobile-first user interface and real-time payment tracking capabilities, GlobalPay for Students was developed with the involvement of international students to help improve the overall payer experience.

The Western Union Company is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of December 31, 2017, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 550,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 150,000 ATMs and kiosks, and included the capability to send money to billions of accounts. In 2017, The Western Union Company completed 276 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82 billion of principal between consumers, and 547 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

¹ https://www.betterthancash.org/tools-research/case-studies/social-networks-ecommerce-platforms-and-the-growth-of-digital-payment-ecosystems-in-china

² https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/08/china-is-living-the-future-of-mobile-pay-right-now.html

³ http://en.ccg.org.cn/ccgs-annual-report-finds-returning-overseas-chinese-students-becoming-major-force-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/