Alipay launches voice call to highlight financial security via real identity checks
Alipay and WeChat Pay are the two major digital wallets used in China, holding a combined market share of roughly 90 per cent
Alipay, one of the most pervasive digital wallets in China, has launched a voice call function that helps users double confirm their real identity before making fund transfers.
The feature - embedded in the input field of a chat window along with other features like sending a photo or sharing location - is tagged “new”. When initiated, it asks for permission to enable the microphone and display a pop-up notice that says “use voice calls for safer money transfers”.
The notice adds that Alipay accounts are safer with real identity authentication, and that the call would not be stored by the platform, which is operated by Ant Group, an affiliate with Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.
When making a voice call on Alipay, the speaker’s real name is displayed below their screen name.
The new feature reflects how online fraud has become a major problem in China.
In the first half of 2024, 60 per cent of criminal cases in the country were fraud, mostly telecommunications-related scams. More than two decades ago, theft accounted for 60 per cent of cases, according to state-backed magazine Sanlian Lifeweek, citing data from the Police Association of China.