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February 3, 2025

Top Post

WeChat Pay Launches in North America

Fashion Network

"The United States has proven to be one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists. In order to capitalize on this popularity, China’s WeChat Pay is making a move stateside, launching in North America for the first time for a partnership with Citcon, a mobile payment program aimed at connecting merchants around the globe with Chinese travelers."

January 28, 2025

On the web

December 18, 2024

On the web

UnionPay International Partners With WeChat Pay to Enable Cross-Border Payments

TechNode

"UnionPay International announced a new partnership with WeChat Pay yesterday, enabling cross-border payments for international UnionPay wallet users through WeChat Pay’s payment system. The initial group of participating wallets includes Bank of China Hong Kong’s BoC Pay, Octopus, PayMe by HSBC, and Tap & Go in Hong Kong; Bangkok Bank Mobile Banking and K PLUS in Thailand; NAVER Pay in South Korea; and ICBC Mobile Banking (ICBC Pay) in Malaysia."

October 3, 2024

On the web

Alibaba’s Taobao Introduces Tencent’s WeChat Pay, Set to Add JD Logistics

China Daily

"Starting Friday, consumers shopping on Alibaba's Taobao platform can now use Tencent's WeChat Pay for transactions, according to an official statement from Taobao. The new payment option allows users to complete purchases with WeChat Pay, and subsequent updates will enable users to access transaction records and bills directly within the WeChat app, WeChat Pay said."

September 6, 2023

On the web

WeChat Pay Tests New Installment Payment Credit Product Named Fen Qi

TechNode

"WeChat will launch a new consumer credit product called Fen Qi, according to a September 4 report by Chinese news outlet Leishe Caijing...The new product allows users to make partial payments for the money they spend through WeChat Pay in a billing cycle. The amount of each partial payment is based on users’ installment plans, which can be one, three, six, or twelve months, according to the report."

May 23, 2023

On the web

WeChat Makes Facial Recog Payment Systems Talk to the Hand

The Register

"Chinese microblogging site WeChat has launched the ability to make payments by swiping the palm of a hand over facial recognition devices. After binding a WeChat account to the device and putting a palm print on record, users simply wave at a camera-embedded scanning surface to complete a purchase. The system recognizes the palm prints, veins, how one stretches their hand and other characteristics."

October 17, 2022

On the web

Alipay Test of Money Transfers Via WeChat Seen as First Breach of Mobile Payments ‘Walled Garden’

South China Morning Post

“The wall separating China’s two leading mobile payment systems may have started to crack after Ant Group’s Alipay rolled out a trial service that uses a QR code to enable the transfer of funds to users of rival app WeChat. While direct money transfers between the two apps is still not possible despite Beijing’s calls to dismantle the “walled gardens” operated by China’s Big Tech firms, the new service from Alipay – only available to a limited number of users in a trial run – marks a small step towards bridging the two mutually exclusive payment services, which together account for over 90 per cent of China’s mobile payments market. To carry out the transaction, Alipay users generate a QR code after specifying the amount up to a maximum of 2,000 yuan (US$278) per transfer. The code is shared with the WeChat user, who then must use Alipay to scan the code and receive the funds.”

June 27, 2022

On the web

China NFT Weekly: WeChat Bans NFT Accounts

Pandaily

“WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform with over 1.2 billion monthly active users, has updated its policies to ban accounts providing access to crypto or NFT-related services. The new guidelines will restrict or ban the issuance, trade, and financing of crypto and NFTs as these activities are now viewed as illegal.”

June 23, 2022

On the web

Tencent’s WeChat Wants No More Talk of Cryptocurrency and NFTs

The Register

“China’s ban on cryptocurrency mining – and general dislike of any form of blockchain-based assets – has seen web giant Tencent clamp down on discussion of the subjects on its massive WeChat and Weixin messaging platforms. News of Tencent’s policy can be found in recent amendments to its terms of service which last week added a section about cryptocurrency and NFTs. The added verbiage states that accounts engaged in discussion of crypto trading, exchange between bit-bucks and real money, or provision of pricing services for digital currencies, all need to stop it. Account holders whose chats veer into the topics described above will be warned, and Tencent may restrict some functions of their accounts. Continued discussion of forbidden crypto will see accounts banned.”

January 20, 2021

On the web

February 6, 2019

On the web

November 20, 2018

On the wires

7-Eleven Becomes First Convenience Retailer Chain in Canada to Accept Alipay and WeChat Pay

“Today, 7-Eleven Inc. announced that participating stores in Canada will now accept Chinese mobile payment systems Alipay and WeChat Pay. The world’s largest convenience retailer is collaborating with cross-border mobile payment company and market leader CITCON. Alipay and WeChat Pay will now be available at 35 select locations in Vancouver and Toronto, with plans for expansion in next few months.”

November 7, 2018

On the web

China’s WeChat joins retail and mobile payments with social media

STORES

“From the consumer’s point of view, the greatest benefit of the do-everything platform is they don’t have to juggle dozens of apps. WeChat puts everything from social media and transportation to retail and banking in one platform, enabling consumers to message friends, play games, book a medical appointment, access bank accounts and make purchases without having to switch apps.”

July 24, 2018

On the web

China’s Mobile Payment Platforms Are Transforming Online Marketing

TechNode

“In some cases, marketing with the help of mobile payments is beginning to eat away classical online marketing strategies. Chinese businesses have tried many ways to attract users but we can’t neglect that the costs of online promotions have begun to climb, said Ma Zheng, CEO of CJI (创匠信息科技), a company specialized in building mobile payment solutions. The numbers from Adobe’s last year’s study on digital advertising confirm his view. “One year ago, some businesses gave up attracting users online, and they went back to offline to seek opportunities,” Ma told TechNode. “Mobile payments seem to be a great intermediary. The growth from online is limited but there is still growth potential from offline, so businesses started integrating their marketing solutions with mobile payments for new ways of attracting users.””

July 19, 2018

Top Post

Chinese Tech Giant Tencent Plans To Expand Its US Payments Footprint — Despite Ongoing Trade War

CNBC

“Tencent has focused on expanding the payments service abroad, but it has stopped short of trying to create a local version of WeChat for other countries. Instead, the company has been focused on signing up merchants in many countries to accept WeChat Pay so Chinese tourists can use the payments platform abroad. And Tencent is gearing up to announce that many more stores in the U.S. will accept WeChat Pay later this year.”

July 12, 2018

On the web

The Chinese Tourists Will Be WeChat Pay’s Focus For Next Three Years

Jing Travel

“In an unsurprising move, Grace Yin, Director of WeChat Pay’s International Operations, confirmed in an interview that Tencent’s WeChat Pay would continue to focus almost exclusively on Chinese outbound tourists for the next three years. A move abroad would seem to be the logical next step for both Alipay and WeChat Pay, as both platforms have become wildly popular in China and have few avenues to garner more customers domestically. Still, the challenges of integrating the platforms into banking systems and lack of brand recognition outside of China have prompted both companies to continue focusing on Chinese customers. With more Chinese tourists going abroad every year, making sure WeChat Pay is usable abroad makes it more likely that when users return home they will continue using it.”

June 29, 2018

On the wires

99 Ranch Market And CITCON Partner To Deliver Customer-centric Shopping Experience

PR Newswire

CITCON, the leading cross-border mobile payment company, announced that 99 Ranch Market, the largest Asian supermarket chain in the United States has successfully deployed the CITCON mobile payment and marketing solution, which allows it to accept China’s most preferred payment options Alipay and WeChat Pay, and leverage their marketing channels to better service Chinese customers.”

May 11, 2018

On the web

February 27, 2018

On the web

WeChat, Alipay offer overseas tax refund services to tourists, meaning no more airport queues

South China Morning Post

“The tedious tax refund process at airports and the long wait to get rebates for purchases made on overseas trips may soon be a thing of the past for Chinese tourists. WeChat Pay and Alipay, China’s two biggest mobile payment platforms, have recently forged partnerships with tax refund companies to enable Chinese tourists to obtain rebates on their purchases via their respective mobile apps.”

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