#WECHAT CHINA ECNY WECHAT PAY MAUSKHARPALCNBC SERIES#
Since 2015, Ant Financial has invested in a series of e-wallets for Asia including Paytm (India), Kakao Pay (South Korea) and HelloPay (Singapore). They are also trying to break into new markets. WeChat Pay can handle payments in 12 currencies in 15 countries and regions.Alipay is accepted in 26 countries across Europe, North America, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.WeChat Pay has made up ground by leveraging its online bank (WeBank) and introducing LingQianTong, which allows users to earn daily interest on their balance, as a competitor to Yu’e Bao.ĭue to the purchasing power of Chinese outbound tourists, the two payment rivals have become widely accepted in popular travel destinations.Alipay’s parent Ant Financial is a full-scale financial services company, so Alipay has a wide variety of financial services integrated, such as money market investing (Yu’e Bao), insurance services (ZhongAn), credit rating services (Sesame Credit), personal credit lines (Ant Micro Loan), and online banking (MYbank).Walmart has rejected Alipay in many of its southwest China outlets recently because of its partnership with WeChat.Īlipay and WeChat also compete in the financial services arena:.Fliggy, has stopped offering WeChat Pay as an option.For instance, food delivery app Meituan Waimai no longer accepts Alipay and Alibaba’s travel agency app.The two compete fiercely in areas like online-to-offline (O2O) services, retail and financial services.īoth entities now pursue exclusive partnerships: In Q1 2017, Alipay’s market share dropped to 54%, with WeChat Pay claiming 40%. The competition between Alipay and WeChatĪlthough WeChat Pay came a decade later, it has captured significant market share. However, as mobile commerce emerged and reshaped lifestyles, WeChat Pay expanded beyond its original parameters and started competing with Alipay in many areas. It was created for peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers and in-app purchases. WeChat Pay was released 9 years later as a payment service for WeChat, the largest social media app in China. There were lots of transaction failures due to lack of trust, so Alipay was introduced to temporarily keep money paid by the buyer, and release it to the seller only if the buyer was satisfied.Īfter proving itself, Alipay saw tremendous growth and expanded beyond Alibaba’s ecosystem. As CryptoPotato reported, over $315,000 worth of e-CNY was transacted daily at the sports event.3.1 Read more related posts Initial development of mobile payment in Chinaīorn in 2004, Alipay was launched as a secure transaction service for Taobao. Moreover, the country’s authorities allowed the employment of the monetary product during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.The number of Chinese residents who have already opened digital yuan wallets is over 140 million, 10 million of which are corporate accounts.While many countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and Jamaica announced intentions to explore a potential CBDC release, China is far ahead of them.
With that said, it makes sense that the nation’s central bank seeks to collaborate with the messaging app giants to popularize its digital currency.
China’s messaging app giant – WeChat – reportedly enabled digital yuan settlements on its platform.