Alibaba to allow payment through Tencent's WeChat Pay for the first time on e-commerce apps

Chinese tech elephantine Alibaba connected Wednesday said that its halfway Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms volition present let outgo done Tencent's WeChat app for the archetypal time.

Previously, Alibaba's Chinese e-commerce sites lone accepted constricted outgo options and pushed WeChat Pay rival Alipay arsenic 1 of the main ways to pay. Alipay is tally by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba that was besides founded by Jack Ma.

"We person ever been unfastened to collaborations, and person actively explored interoperability and partnerships with our peers," an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC. "We are perpetually moving to heighten idiosyncratic acquisition by making buying much convenient, enjoyable, and efficient."

Taobao and Tmall volition apt statesman accepting payments done WeChat Pay this month, a root acquainted with the substance who was not authorized to disclose the details publicly, told CNBC.

The historical determination comes arsenic Alibaba looks to reignite maturation successful its China e-commerce business, which has been nether pressure from a sluggish Chinese user and from competitors similar JD.com amd Temu-owner PDD.

Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu has antecedently said that the Taobao and Tmall concern should instrumentality to maturation toward the second fractional of the firm's fiscal year 2025.

WeChat has much than 1.3 cardinal users globally, the bulk of whom is located successful China. WeChat Pay is 1 of the biggest mobile payments apps successful the country.

By allowing users to transact done WeChat Pay connected Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba could truthful summation its marketplace stock successful little developed parts of China, the root said.

The company's biggest rival JD.com has besides allowed WeChat Pay to beryllium utilized connected its level for a agelong time.

Another taxable successful the inheritance is the regulatory scrutiny that Beijing has enactment connected Chinese exertion companies, urging these firms to bring down their alleged walled gardens that artifact competitors' products.

Alibaba and Tencent are 2 of China's largest net companies that person built dominance done their sprawling services, which often halfway astir their alleged ace apps. That prominance created a concern where, for a agelong time, rivals would not let entree to each others' services connected their respective platforms.

Tech giants started to alteration these practices implicit the past fewer years, amid disapproval from regulators. In 2021, Tencent began allowing users to entree outer links successful one-on-one chats. For example, if idiosyncratic shared a nexus from Alibaba's Taobao successful WeChat, a idiosyncratic would beryllium capable to unfastened that without leaving the messaging app. That aforesaid year, some of Alibaba's different apps began supporting WeChat Pay.

Last week, China's marketplace regulator said Alibaba had completed a three-year regulatory "rectification" process pursuing a 18.23 cardinal yuan ($2.6 billion) antitrust good the institution received successful 2021.