WeChat is China’s most popular messaging app with a monthly user base of
more than 1 billion people.But it’s unlikely that you would have used
it if you live outside China. It is owned by Tencent, one of Asia’s
largest companies by market cap. While it started out as a messaging
service, it has transformed into an app where you can do everything from
payments to hailing a ride, or even booking flights.To get more
wechat news, you can visit shine news official website.
It’s a very different prospect to the likes of Facebook’s Messenger or
WhatsApp.One of the primary uses of WeChat is messaging. Just like
WhatsApp, you have a list of conversations that you’re engaged in.
When people exchange contact details in China, you often see one person
scanning the other person’s phone. Each WeChat user has a unique barcode
known as a QR code. One person can scan the other user’s QR code to add
them to WeChat. You can also use a phone number or ID to add a person
and search for people nearby.
WeChat is one of the main ways people communicate in China. Even when
doing business, people prefer WeChat to email. It’s even more prevalent
because services like Facebook are blocked here.
There is also a social feature called “Moments.” Users can upload a
number of images or videos and their friends can comment or like the
post.From major supermarkets to the smallest of street vendors and
taxis, you can pay for things with WeChat almost anywhere in China.As
long as you have a Chinese bank account, you can link that to WeChat.
There are two ways to pay for something via the app. Firstly, the store
can scan your unique WeChat barcode, which looks like the image below.If
you’re buying something online in China, there will be an option to
purchase with WeChat Pay. You will need to put in a passcode or use a
biometric authentication tool to authorize the transaction.
Instant money transfers to your WeChat contacts can also be made via the
messaging function, which makes it easy to split bills or just move
money around China. It is possible to be nearly cashless in China and
actually go out for the day without a wallet.WeChat and Alipay have
often been described as “super apps” because everything is integrated
within one service. Instead of having one app for banking and another
for ride-hailing, a lot of these are built directly into WeChat so that
the app becomes a one-stop shop for its users.
Companies may choose to launch mini-programs — or apps within WeChat —
instead of a standalone app. The program allows businesses to send
promotional messages directly to the user via WeChat, as well as tap
into the app’s user base of more than one billion.Mini-programs have
become more prominent in the app, as WeChat makes a bigger push toward
becoming a one-stop shop. Tencent recently updated the app so that the
mini-programs feature now has its own page.
In the above image, you can see Dianping, a Chinese app that lets you
see ratings for local restaurants and services, ride-hailing firm DiDi,
and food-delivery service Meituan. You can use all of these services
within WeChat and make payments without ever leaving the app. In this
way, WeChat becomes like an app store as it tries to keep users
connected to its ecosystem.
The Wall