Mobile payments emerged as the top activity for super apps in the 2020 edition of the Asia Consumer Insights survey from Kagan, an offering of S&P Global Market Intelligence.ĭetails of the blockchain-based digital currency are still lacking. In its prospectus, the company said initiatives by the Chinese government like DCEP and the interoperability of the QR code could pose an adverse risk to its business.Īnt Group has diversified into consumer credit and wealth management products in recent years, but a big chunk of its revenue still comes from payments. Industry observers were unanimous on how the digital yuan stands to benefit consumers but not equally optimistic about the rollout's impact on the market leader Alipay.Īnt Group, which is gearing up for one of the biggest IPOs in recent years, sees the move as a threat to its business. "So all of these big players, in terms of their own payment capability or partnering with some of the strategic investors, there is a huge focus on payment because having a frictionless payment layer is really what drives consumer engagement and adoption," said James Lloyd, Asia-Pacific fintech leader at EY.Ĭonsumers could end up benefiting the most as their cash would have "greater transportability than it ever had before," Turrin said. has acquired third-party payment service UIPay to grow the payment capacity of its Chinese short video platform Douyin. TikTok owner Beijing Byte Dance Telecommunications Co.
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Pinduoduo Inc., which accepts payments from both WeChat Pay and Alipay, is planning its own payment system. JD.com, which so far has relied on a partnership with Tencent for its payment needs, has teamed up with People's Bank of China through its fintech arm JD Digits to develop blockchain platforms and a wallet to support the digital currency. That might give some edge to the banks or some other wallets that may claim greater operability," said Richard Turrin, a former IBM executive and author of the upcoming book Cashless-China's Digital Currency Revolution. "Some of these walled gardens will remain, at least initially. The digital yuan is likely to open up opportunities for retailers and banks to offer wallets that claim greater flexibility, analysts said. The industry is divided on the degree of openness that the digital currency will bring to the online payment systems.īeing essentially digital cash, DCEP should be able to flow across retail and internet ecosystems seamlessly, but some believe that complete openness at the level of digital wallets is less likely during the initial rollout.Ĭustomers could be tempted to move to an alternative wallet that is accepted by all e-commerce platforms to circumvent the restrictive policies of Alipay and WeChat Pay, which control most of the digital transactions in China. The move is designed to improve interoperability among various payment platforms and could potentially allow a consumer to use the currency from an Alipay wallet to pay for items on rival platforms like JD.com or WeChat, analysts said.
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However, the official launch date is unknown. Six years in the making, the digital yuan, also known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment, or DCEP, is set to be issued by China's central bank to replace cash in circulation. Ltd., while WeChat Pay and Union Pay are not accepted on Alibaba and its related platforms.įollow our series previewing the landmark IPO by Ant Group:Ĭhina payments giants may face limited risk, tweak growth plans as US mulls banĪnt-sized transaction margins will not spoil giant IPO valuationĬhina may seek to raise yuan's stature via a digital avatarĬhina's startup STAR board will still have a long way to go after Ant's mega IPOĪnt Group's close ties with Alibaba to endure post-IPOĬhina's leverage caps on microlenders bring Ant's regulatory risk to forefrontĬhina's Ant Group may seek clear blue skies in Southeast Asia to grow via M&AĪnt Group's lack of strong messaging platform concerns investors as IPO loomsīank disruptors doubling down on mobile payments in China does not allow payments from Alipay, owned by Alibaba-backed Ant Group Co. Major Chinese e-commerce players now operate in a closed environment, allowing their preferred digital payment providers and often blocking rival services. China's plan for a centralized digital currency could open up the country's "walled-garden" online retail payments ecosystem, but analysts believe it may not immediately change the way shoppers transact with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.-affiliated Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat Pay, which powers payments on the WeChat super-app.