> Do you need someone to verify your ID to get a WeChat account with a wallet? You need to enter your debit card number and your phone number that is registere

> Do you need someone to verify your ID to get a WeChat account with a wallet? You need to enter your debit card number and your phone number that is registered with that bank. Its all connected automatically so that if you go to the bank and update your phone number, you can sign in with the new phone number on WeChat wallet the next day. > I don't think it would be legal to implement something like that in North America without ID checks and a money transmission license Its not hard to get when you are a big company with $$. > What are the fees? None. Although, I believe they started charging if you are transferring money more the some amount (can't remember, but its negligible) > If non-zero, why do people prefer it to cash? Convenience. So convenient. I hate going to the bank, line up and wait for an hour. You can transfer more cash with WeChat than you can at the ATM as well. > I honestly don't see any innovation here The innovation is simplicity and convenience. All those annoying things like paying electricity bill can all be done with a click on your phone. No more mailing or going to the convenience store to pay your bills. All done in 5 seconds. This is a classic example of a product 10x better than the alternative. WeChat payment isn't reinventing the wheel here and I argue thats a good thing. > The tech is dirt simple. The tech shouldn't be simple to prevent fraud. The UX of transferring money is simple, but the backend logic should be very strict given the amount of users, a single bug can cost money. (personal rant) The problem with people's perception of tech is that just cause the UX is simple, does not meant the programming is. It all depends on the product you are building. Google back in 2000 is a great example. One search bar, lots of tech behind it.