Alipay enables transfers to WeChat users via QR codes

AntGroup’s Alipay recently added a feature that permits its users to transfer sums to WeChat users, bridging the two Chinese digital payments providers. Alipay said that the ‘WeChat Friend Transfer’ function is a new feature launched in response to the needs of users.

To perform a transfer, Alipay users first need to select the payment amount they would like to transfer. After that, the app generates a QR code that can be shared with counterparties via WeChat, QQ, Sina Weibo, or DingDing.

Regulatory changes in the Chinese payments landscape

The move comes following the launch of anti-trust measures by the Chinese central government targeting the country’s internet giants, as well as practices such as exclusive agreements with vendors and the use of big data to engage in discriminatory pricing.

Digital payments organisations in China are still not permitted to make direct transfers between each others’ accounts however. The ‘Non-financial Institution for Payments Service Administrative Measures’ stipulates that any transfers of monetary funds between payments institutions must be handled by banking sector financial institutions, and cannot be effect by means of reciprocal deposits between payments entities or by entrusting other payments entities

According to current regulatory requirements, payments entities cannot make direct transfers between accounts without passing through banks or settlements organisations, as per sources cited by Securities Daily. Alipay’s new feature is not ‘a reciprocal payments connection’, but instead a case of Alipay hoping to use product innovations to achieve an expansion in the scope of its influence and improve user experience

AliPay and Wechat tested credit advances with banks

The two platforms have already teamed up with a number of banks to undertake small-scale trials that will enable consumers to obtain cash advances with their credit cards from AliPay and WeChat Pay, instead of via bank ATMs or bank mobile apps.

The move may add another channel of access for banks, and be of benefit to increasing consumer activity as well as transaction volumes. Many Chinese banks already permit customers to use their credit cards to obtain cash withdrawals or electronic cash advances via ATM’s and mobile apps, with the cash advance ceiling usually set at 50% of the total credit quota.