WeChat red packet users record new high during lunar New Year holiday — Xinhua — “About 768 million people used the service during the holiday, rising 10% compared with last year’s holiday… Someone from the east Chinese city of Nanchang was the luckiest user, receiving 3,429 red packets, while one generous user from west China’s Chongqing Municipality gave 2,723 red packets.”
Tencent
Chinese mobile payment platforms are now used by 527m people
China’s mobile payment users hit 527 million in 2017 — ECNS — “China had a total of 527m mobile payment users at the end of last year, up by 57.8m from a year before… WeChat Pay, one of China’s major mobile payment service providers, attracted over 800m validated users by September 2017. The number of monthly offline payments was 280% higher than that from a year ago… Alipay, the online payment platform under ecommerce giant Alibaba, launched in 36 overseas destinations, benefiting hundreds of thousands of merchants. Overseas transactions surged by 306% in the last year when compared with 2016.”
Tencent opens up WeChat Pay to overseas credit card holders
WeChat Pay now allows users to bind overseas credit cards — Technode — “Expats living in China and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan — places where WeChat is ambitiously expanding its user base — can now bind and activate WeChat Pay accounts with credit card services provided by MasterCard, Visa, and JCB… This is the first time users are able to use WeChat Pay without having a Chinese bank account or credit card.”
WeChat opens unmanned store in Shanghai
WeChat opens its first unmanned store in Shanghai — ECNS — “Shoppers need to scan a QR code with their WeChat app to enter the store. Sensors at the exit detect the shopper’s selections and automatically charge their WeChat wallet when they go through a ‘payment door’… WeChat payment industry operations director Bai Zhenjie said it takes less than 0.1 seconds for a customer to pay a bill. He added that facial and image recognition technology may be adopted in the store in the future.”
Chinese government teams up with WeChat to offer digital social security cards
China’s social security system turns to WeChat for electronic ID — South China Morning Post — “Government trials in 26 cities will have Tencent’s WeChat replace traditional state-issued social security cards with digital version tied to users’ accounts… The WeChat-based electronic social security cards will enable users to provide their identification, status, payment records and other relevant information to official online inquiries about benefits and insurance coverage.”
Guangzhou pilot lets consumers use WeChat to create an official digital ID
WeChat poised to become China’s official electronic ID system — South China Morning Post — “The WeChat ID programme was co-developed by the research institute of the Ministry of Public Security and Tencent’s WeChat team, and supported by various banks and several other government departments. The project is expected to help deter online identity theft, as facial recognition technology is used to verify applicants before their virtual ID cards get authorised. Those verified will be able to use their WeChat ID to register in hotels and apply for government services without the need of bringing their physical ID cards.”
China UnionPay launches mobile wallet app
UnionPay takes mobile payment services fight to Alibaba and Tencent with integrated app — South China Morning Post — “UnionPay said the app could be linked to more than one bank account by different banks with all of their mobile payment services accepted and conducted via the platform… The country’s dominant bank card clearing service provider also launched a nationwide promotional campaign with aggressive discounts to attract consumers who have been increasingly using Alipay and Tenpay services for shopping.”
Hong Kong transit operator to test WeChat Pay and Alipay
Contactless competition: WeChat Pay is coming to Hong Kong’s MTR, and Alipay may not be far behind — South China Morning Post — “Commuters on Hong Kong’s MTR will soon be given a new quick payment option as the railway operator has partnered with the mainland’s second-largest mobile payment provider WeChat Pay, it announced on Thursday. WeChat Pay’s main rival, Alipay, said it would follow suit in the ‘near future’… While the initiative arguably benefits mainland tourists more than Hongkongers, it breaks a 20-year stronghold by the contactless Octopus card on how train fares can be paid for.”
BNP Paribas brings WeChat Pay to Europe
BNP Paribas launches WeChat Pay in Europe — BNP Paribas — “A ‘first’ in Europe, the WeChat Pay solution is being initially rolled out at the two Paris flagship stores owned by the Galeries Lafayette Group – Galeries Lafayette Haussmann and BHV Marais.”
Chinese mobile payment volumes top US$3tn in Q2 2017
China’s third-party mobile payment market continues rapid expansion — Xinhua — “In the second quarter of 2017, third-party mobile payment transactions amounted to 23tn yuan (about US$3.46tn), up 22.5% from the previous quarter… Alipay, Alibaba’s mobile payment service, led the market with a 53.7% share, followed by Tencent Finance, with a 39.1% share.”
Report: 2017 Mobile Payment Usage in China
Report: 2017 Mobile Payment Usage in China — Tencent Research Institute — “Chinese consumers spent US$5.5tn via mobile payment platforms last year, about 50 times more than their American counterparts… 74% of people stated that they can live for more than a month with only 100 RMB (US$14.94) in cash. 84% people reported that they could accept a totally cashless life.”
China targets mobile payments oligopoly with clearing mandate
China targets mobile payments oligopoly with clearing mandate — Financial Times — “China’s central bank has ordered online payment groups to operate through a centralised clearing house, a move likely to undercut the dominance of Ant Financial and Tencent by forcing them to share valuable transaction data with competitors… The latest PBoC instructions require all payment companies to connect to the clearing house by October 15 and to channel all payments through it by June 30.”
Big banks on notice that they’re losing ground to China’s fintech giants
Big banks on notice that they’re losing ground to China’s fintech giants — South China Morning Post — “Tencent, the Chinese company, over Chinese New Year, in five days processed 46 billion payments. Basically that means 800 million payments per hour. Visa has a maximum capacity of processing 25,000 payments per second. But Alipay can process 50,000 payments, twice as much, per second.”
WeChat Pay launches overseas open platform
WeChat Pay launches overseas open platform — Marbridge Daily — “Overseas merchants and service providers will be able to submit application materials online, receive a confirmation email, and sign a service contract online to begin using WeChat Pay. Applicants can also use the open platform to look up authorised overseas institutions and service providers that have partnered with WeChat Pay.”
Edinburgh Tattoo to accept WeChat Pay
Traditional annual Scottish tourism highlight The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is to get a very modern twist from 2018 with the addition of support for Chinese internet giant Tencent’s WeChat Pay mobile payments platform, enabling the growing number of visitors from China who attend the event to purchase tickets, merchandise and other services from their smartphones. More
Indian messaging unicorn Hike moves into payments, taking notes from Tencent’s WeChat
Indian messaging unicorn Hike moves into payments, taking notes from Tencent’s WeChat — CNBC — “India’s home-grown instant messaging service Hike on Tuesday announced wide-ranging updates to its app, including a new mobile wallet that lets users send and receive money instantly… The Hike Wallet has several features, including a linkage to the government-backed unified payments interface.”
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto — The Globe and Mail — “OTT Financial Inc is working with Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba to introduce their mobile-payment infrastructure in Canada. The two apps, WeChat Pay and Alipay, are linked with users’ credit cards and allows them to make payments in renminbi, which is then converted to Canadian dollars before it’s transferred to merchants.”
Tencent extends WeChat Pay to the US with focus on Chinese tourists
Tencent extends WeChat Pay to the US with focus on Chinese tourists — South China Morning Post — “WeChat Pay’s US launch is the company’s latest globalisation push as both Tencent and Alibaba seek to expand overseas amid their intensified mobile payment competition at home.”
WeChat Pay and offline mobile payments see “incredibly high” uptake in China
Nine in ten Chinese mobile internet users (92%) choose mobile payment apps such as WeChat Pay as their primary offline payment method today, research released by Tencent Online Media Group’s newly launched research project China Tech Insights reveals, while “smartphone built-in payment tools” such as Apple Pay are currently used by approximately 12%. More
Apple Pay struggles in China in the face of tough competition
Apple Pay is “struggling” in China due in part to a minority smartphone market share and consumers being “far more accustomed” to competing services such as Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay... More