WeChat Pay Makes a Greater Push on Malaysia

Give WeChat Pay credit for sheer chutzpah, because they’re trying something very much out of the ordinary out in Malaysia. The market that Visa itself regarded as the next big thing in mobile payments back in February is set to be a major battleground, and WeChat Pay is responding accordingly.

The new move features WeChat Pay applying for a license in Malaysia to give Malaysian citizens the ability to connect their bank accounts directly to WeChat Pay. That would allow WeChat Pay to essentially function like a mobile, electronic debit card, a move that’s a first for WeChat Pay and its parent company Tencent.

Normally, Tencent would just set up partnership operations with firms to offer customers access to WeChat Pay. Now, it’s more directly targeting potential users, going after not only the Chinese tourist trade—a rapidly growing component of the Chinese market—but also Malaysian locals. Previously, WeChat offered such a service only in China—also Hong Kong, but Hong Kong’s always been something of a special case—and now it may be expanding.

Tencent, for what it’s worth, denies that the move is really geared toward Malaysian locals, instead focusing on the “short-term target” of Chinese tourists. It further noted that the “…priority is nearby countries most frequented by them, such as those in southeast Asia.”

Some have wondered if this might not be a sign of some countries resisting the partnership model in favor of more direct approaches, which would be useful for those Chinese tourists. It’s conceivable that, by using WeChat Pay in this way, Chinese travelers to Malaysia would never need to engage in currency exchanges. That convenience could spark further sales and serve as an economic boon to Malaysia.

Customers will often consider convenience a premium good, and respond accordingly by either using a certain program more or otherwise paying more for the access to convenience. If WeChat Pay can establish itself as the convenient option for travel, it may get a real edge on its biggest competitor Alipay. Considering what Alipay’s already been seen doing in the field, though, Alipay may be looking into similar moves itself.

The mobile payments market is still a dynamic one, and we’re seeing the fallout from that with measures like WeChat Pay’s. We’ll likely see more to come, and that’s good news on several fronts.