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Mobile payments

Mobile payments
Cash is history. Whether its ordering groceries from our smartphone or using it to pay for the bus, these companies and services are changing the way we pay for goods and services.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
[Shutterstock] Stock Photo ID: 1078808396 PENANG, MALAYSIA - APR 26, 2018: Alipay expands its market to support retail merchants in Malaysia through a collaboration with MOLPay, the payment gateway for Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Shutterstock Images
Apps

Alipay bears cost of system error that applied discounts to user transactions

The system error applied a 20 per cent ‘government subsidy’ to an undisclosed number of transactions on Thursday, according to users.

Lunar New Year

Editorial | It is time to make Lunar New Year red lai see packets greener

Banking & finance

HKMA readying FPS for cross-border use by midyear

Foreigners in China

China’s bid to bring back foreign visitors is bearing fruit, but is it enough?

Visitor numbers are well down on pre-Covid levels despite a string of measures, including the offer of visa-free access.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Artificial intelligence

Alipay adds AI image search to enhance ‘super app’ role in rivalry with WeChat

Alipay’s move shows how mobile payment platforms are striving to grow their customer base and engender user loyalty in the AI era.

Crime

US tech consultant found guilty of murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee

Nima Momeni faces 16 years to life in prison for stabbing Lee to death with a knife he took from his sister’s kitchen.

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Ant Group

Jack Ma makes rare speech at Ant Group’s 20th anniversary

The Chinese entrepreneur addresses the fintech giant for the first time since it withdrew its mega IPO in 2020.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Group. Photo: Handout
Yuan

China’s digital yuan roared out of the gate, but stumbling blocks have popped up

Corruption and a slow adoption of the e-CNY risk undermining the groundbreaking progress that China’s digital currency has made over the past decade.

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Tencent

Tencent beats estimates with 47% profit jump, driven by video gaming

Video gaming sales, traditionally Tencent’s strongest revenue driver, grew 14% in the domestic market.

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Ant Group

Ant International drives AI in cross-border payments to boost global expansion

The firm’s AI model predicts currency exchange rates on an hourly basis, helping businesses reduce transaction costs.

Ant International’s new AI model for cross-border transactions is expected to strengthen global trade and commerce. Photo: Shutterstock
Ant Group

Ant CEO Eric Jing touts tokenisation benefits for cross-border transactions

Tokenisation is a major focus of FinTech Week this year, in addition to AI, as Web3 in Hong Kong looks beyond ‘speculative’ cryptocurrencies.

Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024 kicked off on Monday with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and tokenisation. Photo: Matt Haldane
E-commerce

Shopping on Taobao via WeChat: Tencent, Alibaba break digital wall

Users of Tencent’s WeChat can now buy and pay for products sold on Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace without leaving the multipurpose app.

Golden week

Chinese tech giants from ByteDance to Meituan see rise in ‘golden week’ spending

Major online platforms for dining and travel-booking services recorded increased expenditure by mainland consumers during the annual holiday.

Tencent

Tencent says WeChat payments jump during China’s ‘golden week’

Consumers in China appear to have loosened their purse strings after Beijing announced a slew of heavyweight measures to boost the economy.

Tourists visiting the Great Wall in Beijing during the “golden week” national holiday. Photo: Reuters
Golden week

Alipay sees surge in travel transactions during China’s ‘golden week’ holiday

During the first four days of the holiday, the number of transactions made via Alipay in overseas markets surged 60 per cent year on year.

Shoppers and tourists line up at a luxury fashion brand store in Hong Kong during the Golden Week holiday. Photo: Edmond So
Ant Group

Ant International teams up with EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur in global expansion push

Singapore-based Ant International will serve as Tottenham Hotspur’s exclusive global payment solutions provider and digital wallet partner.

Tencent

Wave to pay: Tencent brings palm scan to tourists in Macau

WeChat Palm Pay lets mainland tourists pay by scanning their hand in shops located in hotels under the Galaxy Entertainment Group.

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Ant Group

Ant Group to hold new round of dividend payments to shareholders

This would mark the third round of dividend payments by Ant Group, following two previous rounds in December and March 2022.

Ant Group’s logo seen at the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province. Photo: Shutterstock
Vietnam

Momo, Vietnam’s Alipay, sees growth in digital wave, expanding middle class

Vietnam’s mobile-payments leader is expanding its presence in offline consumption while boosting financial services and merchant solutions.

E-commerce

Alibaba merchants hail WeChat Pay adoption on Taobao and Tmall

Many hope that the move could lure more consumers from rival platforms that already accept a variety of payment methods.

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Ant Group

Fintech giant Ant Group launches AI personal assistant app in China

Zhixiaobao, a play on the Chinese name for Alipay, helps users with daily tasks such as ordering meals or hailing taxis through text or voice prompts.

Ant Group’s new AI chatbot app is named Zhixiaobao, a play on the Chinese name of Alipay, Zhifubao. Photo: Handout
Alibaba

WeChat Pay comes to Taobao: Alibaba and Tencent bury the hatchet

Alibaba is soliciting feedback from merchants about accepting China’s second-largest mobile payments network on the country’s largest e-commerce sites.

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A landmark deal between Alibaba and Tencent will finally bring WeChat Pay to Taobao and Tmall, which have largely been limited to Alipay. Photo: Shutterstock
Ant Group

Alibaba-backed e-wallet operator buys Ant Bank Macao

The acquisition makes Ant Bank Macao an indirect subsidiary of AGTech, while Ant Group remains the bank’s second-largest shareholder.

Banking & finance

HKMA fines Tencent’s WeChat Pay unit HK$875,000 for due diligence failures

The HKMA’s investigation covered a period of five years up to October 2021, during which time WeChat Pay failed to implement adequate measures and controls.

E-commerce

China’s internet users near 1.1 billion, driven by short videos

In the first half of 2024, more than a third of China’s new internet users were drawn to short video apps, a government survey shows.

China’s internet population is approaching 1.1 billion. Photo: AFP
Payment tokens transform business

Payment tokens change the game for Asia-Pacific’s businesses

Visa Token Service boosts sales, accelerates revenues and reduces payment declines for clients including Adyen, Afterpay and Foodpanda.

In partnership with:
Visa
Payment token technology has significantly improved the speed and convenience of transactions for businesses and consumers in the Asia-Pacific region. Photo: Shutterstock
China travel

Opinion | How China can make life better for foreign and domestic tourists alike

Refining entry policies, mobile payment systems and rail travel can help make the mainland an easier and more welcoming travel destination.

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Hong Kong economy

Letters | Hong Kong must not mix up ‘check-in’ and ‘in-depth’ tourism

Readers discuss the limits of social media-driven ‘check-in tourism’, the real reason some Hong Kong businesses don’t take digital payments, and breaking up the DSE exam into two.

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