Tencent currently sits at number 16 on GlobalData’s thematic scorecard for social media companies.
Prior to that, WeChat began allowing links to rival platforms to be shared in one-to-one chats. Soon after, Alibaba started allowing WeChat Pay on several of its platforms, initiating the breakdown of its walled gardens. “The development of the Internet must be able to make people’s lives more convenient, facilitate the development of all aspects, and ultimately promote the healthy and orderly development of the internet industry and platform economy,” said Xiao Yaqing, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology at a press conference. In September, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued an ultimatum to internet companies to open up their walled gardens and allow rival links and payment services on their sites or risk regulatory action. From the South China Morning Post: 'it’s limited to certain online services for now. In return, Alibaba’s ecommerce platform, Taobao, only accepts its own payment service, Alipay. At the present WeChat Wallet payments using international (foreign) credit cards are limited to certain merchants. This includes opening so-called walled gardens that, for years, blocked users from accessing payment services from rival companies.įor instance, ecommerce platform JD.com, which is backed by Tencent, has WeChat Pay as its default payment option. Equally, it gives WeChat Pay users the same option with QuickPass codes.Ĭhinese regulators have made an aggressive push urging big tech companies to terminate monopolistic practices. The cooperation enables QuickPass users to make payments by scanning WeChat Pay’s QR codes. In addition Tencent, WeChat’s parent company, has extended its partnership with Cloud QuickPass – the mobile payment service of state-backed UnionPay – which was first announced in September. On a local level, the Bank of Xi’an, Bank of Hangzhou and Tonglian Pay have also joined the list. The partners mentioned include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Ping An Bank and CITIC. The news comes as regulators have urged private financial service providers in China to open up their platforms or face penalties.Īccording to Chinese media, WeChat will work together with several central-bank-backed financial institutions to promote a more open payment ecosystem.
You will however need to either have a Chinese bank account, or add a foreign credit card to your account (recently introduced). One of China’s biggest mobile payment platforms, WeChat Pay, is apparently cooperating with several national financial institutions to further promote openness and interoperability among the digital payment industry. The short answer is yes, foreigners are allowed to use the WeChat pay service while in China to pay for goods or send money to friends.
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