China’s Alipay and WeChat Pay : Reaching Rural Users
Chinese information technology conglomerates Alibaba and Tencent own or operate dozens of competing online businesses, and yet, their affiliate mobile wallets stand out for how they have fundamentally influenced everyday living in China’s cities. A...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/451921533193590101/China-s-Alipay-and-WeChat-Pay-reaching-rural-users http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30112 |
| Summary: | Chinese information technology
conglomerates Alibaba and Tencent own or operate dozens of
competing online businesses, and yet, their affiliate mobile
wallets stand out for how they have fundamentally influenced
everyday living in China’s cities. Alibaba through its
dominance in e-commerce and Tencent through its mobile
social media and messaging platforms (WeChat and QQ) connect
mass-market audiences with their respective wallet products
of Alipay and WeChat Pay. Although these services are the
product of unique market conditions, they offer many
learning opportunities. Perhaps most extraordinary has been
the companies’ ability to build trust with users. Tencent
and Ant Financial, Alibaba’s financial affiliate, are
redefining the relationship users have with finance. Finance
is becoming simpler, and it is also remarkably more social
in nature. This holds great promise for advancing rural
financial inclusion in China. However, challenges in serving
last-mile clients remain. |
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