From red packets to mobile payments: Here’s how businesses and consumers transact on WeChat
- US President Donald Trump has ordered a ban on WeChat-related transactions in the US
- WeChat is used by many among the Chinese diaspora in the US for mobile payment and digital red packets
For hundreds of millions of people, WeChat is more than just a messaging app. The multipurpose app also has a payment function, allowing money to pass between users in a variety of ways.
This feature now appears to be targeted by the White House. A new executive order released on Thursday will ban “any transaction that is related to WeChat” by any person or involving any property within US jurisdiction.
A representative from WeChat owner Tencent said on Friday that the company is still reviewing the executive order to get a full understanding.
WeChat is far less popular in the US than in its home market of China. Yet the app remains indispensable to many Chinese students and workers in the US who rely on WeChat to keep in touch with friends and family and keep abreast with what’s happening in China. As of last September, the US was home to nearly 1.5 million WeChat users, according to Statista.
The payment function in WeChat, or Weixin as it is known in China, is available to users whose accounts are registered in mainland China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.