The longer you stay in China, the more insights you will find about its current mobile technology. We are truly living in an era of a cashless economy! If you come to China, you will be recommended to download a few survival tools – some life-saving applications. Indeed, you cannot miss installing WeChat （微信）and Alipay（支付宝）on your mobile phone. These two apps allow you to further connect your payment account with countless of other service apps such as Tao Bao（淘宝）, Ele.me（饿了么）, DiDi（滴滴出行）, and so on.
In this article, we will explore some of the pros and cons of these technologies. Let’s have a look!
History of WeChat
Developed by the Chinese conglomerate Tencent company, WeChat became the largest messaging app in the Chinese community. Allen Zhang invented it with a slogan: “WeChat is lifestyle.” He has granted everyone’s wish by revolutionizing their lives into a cashless society.
Although WeChat was born in 2011, its payment function, called ‘WeChat Pay’ or WeChat wallet, was launched in 2013. Since then, users can use this e-wallet to pay for groceries and bills. Until now, WeChat has reached more than a billion daily active users, with over 800 million people using WeChat Pay.
History of Alipay
Alipay is a third-party mobile online payment platform. It was launched seven years earlier than WeChat in 2004 by Jack Ma. In 2013, the same year as WeChat Pay’s birth, Alipay overtook Paypal, an American company operating a global online payment system. In 2020, Alipay already has 320 million daily active users doing 175 million transactions per day.
WeChat vs. Alipay
If you have been to China’s grocery stores, you will notice that they gave you options to pay via WeChat or Alipay. You might feel they are a bit redundant. In terms of financial services, both are pretty much similar. But with about other aspects, WeChat and Alipay are mutually exclusive. Here, we will tell you four of the main differences:
Marketing strategies
Do you know that WeChat Pay is only a portion of WeChat’s entire services? While WeChat focuses on user experience like social networks, Alipay facilitates retailers and wholesalers to perform daily transactions.
Alipay is good at holding trust between buyers and sellers. The buyers’ money will be kept safe and sound in the Alipay until the transaction is completed, i.e., your payment will be transferred to the sellers only after you confirm shipment arrival.
Alipay also launched Mini-Programs, the same as WeChat, but its users spent far less time on the platform than the opposite player, which has posed a real challenge to Alipay.
Nevertheless, Alipay is popular among Chinese users who are travelers. Chinese outbound travelers visit Alipay 20% more than WeChat Pay because of its favorable currency exchange, hongbao, discounts, and gifts offer. More than 350 thousand businesses in Europe are using Alipay as well.
Number of supported currencies
Currency may be a factor that people have ignored. It is not often mentioned about, but still useful for Chinese travelers or cross-border e-commerce businesses. WeChat Pay supports 13 currencies: HKD, USD, GBP, JPY, CAD, AUD, EUR, NZD, KRW, THB, SGD, RUB, DKK, SEK, CHF, and NOK.
To this list, additional currencies are provided by Alipay: AED, CZK, IDR, LKR, MYR, MOP, PHP, SAR, ZAR. However, several references said Alipay supports a total of 27 currencies.
Transaction fees
Both platforms do not charge transaction fees unless you withdraw big bucks. WeChat Pay charges users 0.1% every time they withdraw money over 1,000 RMB. Alipay charges the same rate when withdrawing more than 20,000 RMB. Business sales, WeChat pay, charges 0.6%, while Alipay charges 0.55% per transaction. These figures explain why Alipay appeals to the majority of Chinese vendors.
Supported Devices
WeChat Pay is supported in any device that WeChat operates. Yet, 90% of users view WeChat on mobile phones, since using WeChat Pay on a web browser is complicated. Therefore, if you want to make a payment on a computer browser, Alipay is a better choice.
Conclusion
WeChat and Alipay differ mainly in marketing strategies. WeChat Pay loves seeing its users spending more time on its platform, and it performs very well. In contrast, Alipay has its strength in e-commerce, ensuring a valid transaction between two entities. If someone asks which one of them is better, you may want to reply to him/her: What do you need it for?
We at EhaiTech can help you enter the Chinese market and promote your business through marketing on WeChat. Don’t hesitate to contact us now to get started!
Author’s Bio
Katie is a Thai Bachelor’s graduate who used to live in China for four years before she began her college life at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Recently, she came back to China to start a new chapter of her life. As China leaps forward in innovation, she is intrigued by the technological advancement the country has to offer. Thus, she becomes motivated to share some knowledge about Chinese marketing!
3 Interesting facts about Katie:
-
-
-
-
- Katie LOVES cats
- Katie likes BIOLOGY as well
- Katie CAN speak Cantonese (a group of Chinese dialects) a little bit…
-
-
-