![]() ![]() The Internet giant's commercialization drive has raised expectations for social media to translate their growing user numbers into profits. And it provides momentum for the change taking place within the whole industry - future payments will take place on mobile devices," said Yi Fanghan, an independent Internet industry blogger.ĭong Xu, an analyst at IT consultancy Analysys International, said partnering with TenPay will create more possibilities for cooperation "where merchants can hunt for business opportunities themselves". "The mobile phone payment service on WeChat marks one key step on Tencent's path to develop e-commerce. For instance, it encourages WeChat users to scan codes at stores to purchase products and enjoy discounts.Īnalysts said such a practice is likely to herald a wave of advertising on WeChat from retailers, spelling a decent return for the company. Tencent has long harbored an interest in the e-commerce arena, but is looking at ways to monetize its user base without charging for the app. Speaking on the sidelines of this year's session of the National People's Congress, company head Pony Ma said Tencent would begin introducing mobile social games on WeChat and introduce micro-payments for services like taxis, among other measures to make money off the application. Liu did not reveal how Tencent charges the vendors. Followers of McDonald's public account may pay three yuan ($0.49) for an afternoon tea discount coupon, and transactions are completed under the WeChat framework. TenPay, like domestic rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's AliPay and eBay Inc's PayPal in the US, allows merchants to process payments from customers' personal accounts.įor instance, fast-food chain McDonald's Corp is among the first batch of merchants to open an online channel via WeChat. Online transactions are made available via credit cards, online banking or TenPay, the company's third-party payment platform, she added. WeChat does all back-end technical integration and support for these vendors, including page design and payment linkups, said Liu Sishan, a Tencent public relations officer. Since early June, WeChat has empowered a selected few of its registered corporate accounts to make online shopping viable. The app lets users send voice messages, photos and other media the way they might send text messages, without charging extra fees. It is also part of a consistent company strategy to commercialize WeChat, which has more than 300 million users worldwide. The move rewrites the rules of retailing and advertising on the mobile front. ![]() Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's largest listed Internet company, has enabled online transactions for selected merchants by linking a payment service to its popular WeChat smartphone application. ![]() Tencent Holdings Ltd has started to provide online payment services through the social networking and messaging service. A user logs on to the WeChat service on a smartphone in Boao, Hainan province. ![]()
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