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Tencent to charge users in China for transferring money from WeChat Wallet to bank accounts

New rule to take effect next month but not expected to apply to Hong Kong; pundits wonder whether it will drive users to migrate to rival Alibaba’s Alipay

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A man uses Tencent’s messaging app Weixin, or WeChat, on his smartphone in eastern China's Shandong province. WeChat Wallet is used widely in mainland China, whereas Hong Kong is moving slower to adopt similar services. Photo: Imaginechina

Tencent’s popular mobile messaging app WeChat will soon begin charging users in China for money transfers made to personal bank accounts via its built-in digital wallet service.

From March 1, a fee of 0.1 per cent will be levied on digital transfers to bank accounts where the sum exceeds 1,000 yuan (US$153), the company said. The minimum fee per transfer will be 0.1 yuan.

WeChat Wallet, which arrived in Hong Kong last month, can be used in various ways in China. Users can send money, or digital red envelopes bearing money or gifts, to friends or make payments at a variety of offline stores.

The company is imposing the charge to cover bank handling fees for users’ WeChat Wallet transfers instead of absorbing them itself as it has been doing, it said.

“The transaction fees will encourage users to make fewer withdrawals and thus keep more money circulating within the WeChat Wallet ecosystem, therefore increasing the opportunities for other spending within it,” said Michael Yeo, an analyst at market research firm IDC.

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