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Payments between giants break barriers: Taobao Special connects to WeChat Pay

2024-08-20

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The payment interconnection between the two giants has made another major progress. On August 19, a Beijing Business Daily reporter noticed that without internal testing, the Taobao Special Edition (hereinafter referred to as "Tao Te") App has added a WeChat payment column in the payment method. From the planned access in 2021 to the full access now, although it is only a new payment option for users, it is not simple for institutions behind it. In the view of the industry, this move is more symbolic, meaning that the previously closed system between giants is gradually opening up to the payment channels of other institutions.

Taobao fully integrates with WeChat Pay

On August 19, some consumers reported to the Beijing Business Daily that Taobao and WeChat Pay have achieved interconnection and interoperability. There is no need for internal testing or copying links. Payment can be completed by directly jumping to WeChat.

On the same day, a Beijing Business Daily reporter downloaded the app for actual testing. In terms of specific operations, after downloading and installing, users can log in with their Taobao account, add the desired products to the shopping cart, and then the Alipay payment method will appear at checkout. Click "Change" to see the newly added WeChat payment and ask friends to help pay. Click WeChat payment to jump to the payment operation.

The payment interconnection between Taobao and WeChat has always attracted widespread attention in the industry. As early as 2021, a Beijing Business Daily reporter verified from Alibaba Group that since the Taobao App was connected to UnionPay Cloud QuickPass in August of that year, it has covered all users. At the same time, Alibaba's Ele.me, Youku, Damai, Koala Overseas Shopping, Shuqi and other applications have all been connected to WeChat Pay. At that time, Taote, Xianyu, Hema and other apps had also applied to connect to WeChat Pay and were waiting for WeChat review.

It now appears that Taobao has fully integrated WeChat payment. In addition, the Beijing Business Daily reporter also tried the payment interoperability of Xianyu and Hema Apps on the same day, but found no WeChat payment integration.

Regarding the progress of payment interconnection, Beijing Business Daily reporters tried to contact Taobao and WeChat, but no response was received as of press time.

However, a relevant insider commented that Taobao’s full integration with WeChat Pay should mean that it has passed the review and is now fully open. But he also emphasized that “the full interoperability between WeChat and Taobao is not a unilateral consideration, but a mutual consideration between the two.”

"This progress in interconnection and interoperability has greater symbolic significance." Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Broadcom Consulting, told Beijing Business Daily that this move means that the previously closed system between giants is gradually opening up payment channels to other institutions, especially to institutions with direct competitive relationships, and is more in line with the original intention of interconnection and interoperability required by regulators. However, Wang Pengbo also pointed out that from the actual effect, Taobao's payment page still prefers Alipay, and WeChat payment will only pop up when clicking other options. From the perspective of products and usage habits, it is expected that not many users on Taobao will choose to jump to WeChat.

Su Xiaorui, a senior researcher at Suxi Intelligence, said that the interconnection between Taobao and WeChat Pay means that the interconnection between giants has moved one step further forward, which can bring diversified payment options to users of e-commerce platforms while promoting the growth of transaction frequency and volume of payment institutions.

The industry recommends increasing offline interoperability

"I want to try WeChat Pay on Taobao" and "When will Taobao fully support WeChat Pay?" Many consumers have also given feedback on Taobao's integration with WeChat Pay, and they are even more looking forward to the full integration of the Taobao App.

The interconnection between Taobao and WeChat Pay has actually been promoted for many years. In recent years, users have reported that they can choose WeChat Pay after placing an order on Taobao, but they are all internal test users. The latter said on public social platforms that when shopping on the Taobao App, the payment page shows the relevant methods of WeChat Pay, including "WeChat scan code payment" and "Go to WeChat to find friends to help me pay". However, a Beijing Business Daily reporter confirmed with Taobao customer service that this function is still being gradually opened up, and only some users can use it, and it can only be selected when purchasing some products.

As of August 19, 2024, regarding when the Taobao App will fully open WeChat Payment, Taobao customer service still stated that WeChat Payment is still in the trial stage and has not yet been fully opened. Whether the order can be used depends on the payment page.

After several years of development, what are the difficulties in the payment interoperability between Taobao and WeChat? In the view of Pan Helin, a well-known economist, the challenges of the interoperability between the two are firstly the willingness of both parties. The two parties should take the initiative to contact each other so that the interoperability can be realized as soon as possible; secondly, both parties should clearly define the boundaries of responsibilities and obligations. Interoperability will inevitably involve the scope of responsibility of both parties. Clearly defining the scope of responsibility will be conducive to the implementation of interoperability; finally, both parties need to fully open up the ecosystem, not only WeChat and Taobao, but also other third-party payment and social platforms.

In fact, according to previous news, the interconnection and interoperability between Taobao and WeChat Pay has made phased progress, but in Su Xiaorui's view, it needs to be fully opened up in the future. While WeChat Pay connects to Alibaba's e-commerce to obtain scene dividends, it should also adhere to the principle of mutual benefit, actively open up its own scenes, and promote the sustainable development of interconnection and interoperability.

"I personally think that on the one hand, technical interconnection takes time, and on the other hand, the help of the two associations is needed to complete the exploration of compliance," said Wang Pengbo.

Despite the difficulties in technology, traffic, users, profit sharing and other aspects, the industry believes that full interoperability is a major trend and it is only a matter of time before payment giants "break the wall". It is expected that the subsequent payment interconnection among the major giants will also accelerate with the gradual maturity of experience and technology. This will also force all types of payment entities to provide a good payment experience and deepen user-oriented refined operations.

As Wang Pengbo pointed out, payment interoperability has basically met the expected requirements. For institutions, it can simply be connected gradually and smoothly.

"Subsequent interconnection and interoperability still depends on the attitudes of both parties in terms of technical collaboration, scenario resource exchange, etc." Regarding the subsequent payment interoperability of the entire market, Su Xiaorui also suggested that in addition to online interoperability, it is also necessary to increase the offline interoperability process and alleviate the offline "numerous code signs" phenomenon by promoting "one-code scanning" and other methods.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Liu Sihong