Taobao, Tmall embrace WeChat Pay

Chinese tech heavyweight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's online marketplaces Taobao and Tmall announced on Thursday that they will accept mobile payment options from Tencent's WeChat Pay gradually from Sept 12, a significant step in breaking down payment barriers between the two internet companies, enhancing interoperability and interconnectivity of different platforms and improving user experience, experts said.

They added the move is conducive to elevating payment convenience, invigorating the vitality of consumption, and bolstering the innovation and development of payment modalities.

Taobao and Tmall said in a statement on Wednesday that they had issued notices on their platforms to solicit feedback from merchants about accepting WeChat Pay as an additional payment method, as part of a broader push to improve the shopping experience.

The two platforms said they are upholding the concept of openness and cooperation and actively exploring interoperability and partnerships with various platforms to enhance user experience and make consumers' shopping activities more convenient, enjoyable and efficient.

Alipay, a popular mobile payment tool launched by Chinese fintech company Ant Group, said in a statement following the announcement, "Openness, collaboration, innovation and sharing are fundamental principles of the internet and the driving force behind the industry's development."

Alipay said it will continue to deepen cooperation with Taobao and Tmall, and step up innovation in technologies and products. Apart from payment products, the company will further expand open cooperation in broader ecosystems such as internet technology and artificial intelligence to create more business opportunities, it added.

As the main rival to WeChat Pay, Alipay is a major payment service provider for Taobao and Tmall. WeChat Pay said it is always open to collaborations, and is actively exploring interoperability with various sectors, adding it plans to continue exploring new partnerships and improving convenience for users on the basis of ensuring transactional security.

Pan Helin, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said the move is a win-win result for the two Chinese tech giants as both Taobao and Tmall could attract WeChat users by adding WeChat Pay as a payment option and help bolster their business performances, while WeChat Pay will greatly expand its application ecosystems via its access to e-commerce platforms.

Pan said Taobao and Tmall have access to several mobile payment tools — such as Cloud QuickPass of payment giant China UnionPay — and digital renminbi, so accepting payments from WeChat Pay will not affect the current digital payment landscape.

"It is foreseeable that there will be more frequent and closer cooperation among different platforms and payment companies," Pan said, adding that allowing users to transact through WeChat Pay on Taobao and Tmall will help the platforms gain more users from smaller cities, where WeChat Pay has a higher penetration rate than Alipay.

Industry statistics show that WeChat Pay and Alipay together control 90 percent of China's mobile payments market. Experts said the acceptance of WeChat Pay on Taobao and Tmall is a landmark event in enhancing the interconnectivity of payment methods.

Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst at market consultancy Botong Analysys, said the move will allow consumers to choose their preferred payment methods freely, enhance their shopping experience, unleash consumption potential as well as provide more possibilities for bolstering the innovation of payment technology.

Alibaba and Tencent have been taking measures to integrate services since 2021 after Chinese authorities urged tech companies to tear down their so-called walled gardens that block competitors' products.

Alibaba has incorporated WeChat Pay into its on-demand food delivery app Ele.me, video-streaming platform Youku and online ticket booking platform Damai. Tencent, which once limited the sharing of links to Alibaba stores on WeChat, has gradually allowed users to open a variety of links and content from rival platforms within its messaging app.

Moreover, Meituan, a popular on-demand services platform, has launched its food delivery and hotel booking services as Alipay's mini programs, offering exclusive coupons and merchant discounts.

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