Still reeling from the rumors of "Apple rejecting its approval," WeChat 5.0 now faces a new competitor: Alibaba. Yesterday, Beijing Business Daily exclusively learned that Alipay plans to add a "public platform/account" feature in its mobile client, Alipay Wallet, directly challenging WeChat's commercialization efforts.
Previously, the WeChat product team confirmed that WeChat 5.0 will include an independent platform called "WeChat Pay," marking the beginning of WeChat's full-scale commercialization. However, insiders revealed that Alibaba is also accelerating its product-level countermeasures against WeChat. "Micro Tao (a Taobao app) plays the vanguard role, while Alipay focuses on payment functions to compete for WeChat enterprise marketing accounts."
Alipay Wallet defines its "public platform/account" system as "public services," which are open for merchants to apply for and users to freely add. Based on exposed product screenshots, Alipay’s "recommended public services" include McDonald's, NIKE, Meituan, Dangdang.com, Air China, and Apple. Users can also search and add public services within the application. It is currently unclear whether these public service accounts have been connected or are only being tested. Another exposed screenshot shows the interface of the "China Merchants Bank Credit Card" public account, displaying user information, monthly statements, repayment reminders, card management, repayment options, and inquiry functionalities. This "function module" setup differs significantly from Alipay Wallet's current "credit card repayment" mode.
Insiders revealed that Alipay’s public service accounts will include two parts: "function modules" and "conversation modules," switchable via the top-right corner of the interface. The "conversation module" is largely similar to WeChat's current public account functionality: pushing information and interacting with users. The function module, however, is freely set up by merchants based on Alipay's technical support.
The same source was unclear about the standards for message pushes in Alipay's "conversation module," but it is likely consistent with WeChat's aim of "service-based marketing." Recently, the WeChat team announced that they would fold WeChat IDs in version 5.0 and limit the frequency of mass messages. "Clearly, Alipay places more emphasis on the 'function module,' which directly involves payment processes—an area where Alipay has an advantage. Alipay's commercial nature also dictates that its public service accounts will focus on financial categories, service aggregation, and large brands with long-term marketing needs," the insider believed, adding that media accounts and small businesses may not be priorities.
At the beginning of last month, Alipay Wallet announced the opening of its account system, allowing third-party applications like DingDing Offers to be integrated. "Previous open platforms required calling local apps, which was inconvenient for both merchants and users. The public service account uses a Web App architecture, and Alipay will provide multiple standard interfaces, saving merchants the cost of developing their own apps." A few days ago, Alibaba and WeChat mutually blocked each other due to "Taobao guest WeChat public accounts suspected of harassing users." Alibaba also launched the "Weibo Taobao Edition" with Sina Weibo, and Micro Tao's offensive strategy against Taobao traffic diversion tools was aggressive. "Micro Tao and Alipay are moving in two different directions; the former guides product traffic, while the latter's public account targets the mobile finance and service market," the insider said, adding that the timeline for the launch of Alipay Wallet with the added public service account feature remains unknown, "but in response to WeChat 5.0's attack, it probably won't take long."
Yesterday, Alipay did not comment on the matter of public service accounts but emphasized that "the open strategy adopted by Alipay is clearly more popular with users." It is reported that the latest version of Alipay Wallet 7.1, which integrates Yu'e Bao and an open platform, is the fastest-updating and most widely used product in Alipay's history.