Fueled by rising inbound passenger flows in Shenzhen, southern China, Shenzhen Airport has joined hands with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Visa to launch the country’s first Visa contactless instant tax refund service. This breakthrough officially ushers in a new era of near-instant fund disbursement for outbound travelers’ tax rebates.

Going forward, when shopping at designated instant tax-refund stores at Shenzhen Airport, overseas visitors only need to tap their Visa cards on POS devices to complete payment and submit tax refund applications simultaneously. The system automatically verifies refund eligibility and credits rebates to users’ Visa accounts at real-time exchange rates, enabling true one-tap instant tax refunds. This move resolves long-standing pain points of traditional departure tax refunds, including tedious on-site queuing and long waiting times for fund disbursement.

Official data show that in the first quarter, inbound and outbound passenger volume at Shenzhen Airport Port exceeded 1.754 million, rising by nearly 12% year on year and hitting an all-time high for the same period. The growth in visa-exempt foreign visitors was particularly notable, surging by over 60%. Booming cross-border passenger flows have also strongly boosted local consumption.