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.”
WeChat Pay
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.”
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.”
Apple accepts WeChat Pay in bid to reverse sales decline
Apple accepts WeChat Pay in bid to reverse sales decline — China Daily — “Apple said it is ‘excited’ to introduce Chinese customers using WeChat Pay to purchase apps or subscribe to Apple Music, and will continue to offer payment options that are simple and convenient…. It previously supported credit card transactions, its indigenous Apple Pay, China’s UnionPay, and Alipay, WeChat Pay’s biggest rival.”
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.”
Mobile payments in China: How the tech giants are changing the future of payments
An in-depth article that provides an expert analysis of how the traditionally cash-focused landscape in China has been “completely transformed” by the introduction of digital and mobile payment services like Alipay and WeChat Pay is now available to download free of charge from the NFC World Knowledge Centre... More
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
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.”
China’s biggest mobile payment service launches in Toronto
China’s biggest mobile payment service launches in Toronto — Tourism Toronto — “Tourism Toronto announced today a new strategic partnership with OTT Financial Group that introduces the Chinese mobile payment service, WeChat Pay, into local tourism businesses to boost travel and shopping consumption by Chinese travellers.”
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
Starbucks to add gift cards to iMessage as Mobile Order & Pay grows
Starbucks customers across the US will soon be able to purchase gift cards using Apple Pay and send them to friends and family within Apple’s iMessage platform. The move comes as the coffee giant reveals it now has approximately nine million mobile paying customers with one in three using Mobile Order & Pay, which accounted for 8% of all transactions made across US stores last month. More
Starbucks customers get voice ordering as mobile orders and payments continue to grow
US consumers can now place orders from coffee giant Starbucks by speaking into the Starbucks iOS mobile app or to Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa. The move comes as the company reveals that mobile orders made up 7% of all its US transactions in the last quarter, with mobile payments now accounting for 27%. More
Starbucks in China to accept WeChat Pay mobile payments
Customers at about 2,500 Starbucks locations across mainland China can now make mobile payments using Chinese internet giant Tencent’s WeChat Pay mobile payments platform by scanning a QR code at the point of sale... More
Tencent to ramp up WeChat Pay in Japan
Chinese internet giant Tencent is working to roll out its WeChat Pay mobile payment service to 10,000 Japanese stores by the end of 2016... More
WeChat Pay now available to overseas merchants
Chinese internet giant Tencent has made its WeChat Pay platform available to overseas vendors so they can serve Chinese consumers when they travel abroad... More