China's Most Popular Digital Payment Services - China's Most Popular Digital Payment Services

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Published on: March 20, 2019 / Update from: December 3, 2020 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

China is certainly a world leader in digital payments, both in online shopping and in pre-ordering in brick-and-mortar stores, cafes and restaurants. Data from the Tech Giants survey shows that almost as many Chinese people shop online as use the very popular pre-order option. 60 percent of those surveyed said they use digital financial services every day.

Proprietary companies lead the Chinese digital payments industry, with Alipay from e-commerce giant Alibaba the most popular, followed by WeChat Pay, QQ Wallet and Baidu Wallet. Many large Internet companies in China have spun off their own payment services and are doing well. The international services of big players Apple, Google and Amazon are lagging far behind, and not even online payment veteran Paypal can put a foot on the ground.

Facebook Payments currently only offers peer-to-peer payments, but plans to build its own full-fledged payment system in China. Entering the highly competitive Chinese market could prove difficult, even for the global player.

When it comes to digital payments, China is certainly a world leader both in the areas of online shopping and pre-ordering from brick-and-mortar stores, cafés and restaurants. Data from the Tech Giants survey shows that nearly as many Chinese citizens shop online as use the very popular option of pre-ordering. 60 percent of respondents said they used digital financial services daily.

Homegrown companies lead the way in the Chinese digital payments industry, with Alipay by e-commerce giant Alibaba being the most popular, followed by WeChat Pay, QQ Wallet, and Baidu Wallet. Many major internet players in China have spun off their own payment service and are successful at it. International services by big players Apple, Google and Amazon are trailing far behind and not even online payment veteran PayPal can get a foot on the ground.

Facebook Payments so far only offers peer-to-peer payments but is planning to roll out its own full-fledged payment service in China. Breaking into the competitive Chinese market might prove tough, even for the global player.