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I would just like to say that contactless chip cards are ubiquitous, do not require a battery, are more secure (no reliance on QR codes) and have been around fo

I would just like to say that contactless chip cards are ubiquitous, do not require a battery, are more secure (no reliance on QR codes) and have been around for years in the West.

njepa 7y ago
It isn't the same thing by any means, and doesn't really offer much over cards other than a slight improvement in convenience. Mobile payments in China are essentially peer-to-peer and universal. The closest equivalent is probably something like MobilePay or Swish, but that isn't as good or as widespread.
- teknologist 7y ago
  Peer-to-peer in the same way that PayPal is peer-to-peer. There's still a central entity somewhere holding all the money and data.
  - njepa 7y ago
    Sure, but cards are even more centralized. The "feature" of WeChat is that it can be used for almost anything. It is a cash successor more so that a card alternative. Anyone can print, display or scan a QR code. Doesn't matter if it is a store, a friend or a random person. Doesn't matter if it is in the physical world, on a website or in a chat. And it is easy to do. And almost everyone uses it. Contactless cards only matches WeChat in the same way something like Apple Pay does.
    - teknologist 7y ago
      I am not seeing the value in being able to print QR codes unless your business is selling fruit on the street (to be fair, a lot of businesses in China are just this). The more secure analogy comparable in price would be solutions like Square and PayPal Here. Smartphones are ubiquitous.
A2017U1 7y ago
My contactless card works nowhere outside my small home country. Meanwhile Chinese tourists are there seamlessly buying food from 7/11 with alipay whole I go through the full pin and card thing. As the other reply says too, any shop can set this up easily. I challenge you to take contactless payments in your home country, it's nothing like simply getting a qr payment and involves merchant banking. I've seen tiny remote rural village stores that would never even imagine having a visa PoS terminal with big wechat payment signs out front.
- teknologist 7y ago
  I've used contactless Visa to buy things in Japan, Singapore and several other places. It's a UK card though so maybe there's something different going on there

I would just like to say that contactless chip cards are ubiquitous, do not require a battery, are more secure (no reliance on QR codes) and have been around for years in the West.

njepa 7y ago

It isn't the same thing by any means, and doesn't really offer much over cards other than a slight improvement in convenience. Mobile payments in China are essentially peer-to-peer and universal. The closest equivalent is probably something like MobilePay or Swish, but that isn't as good or as widespread.

teknologist 7y ago
Peer-to-peer in the same way that PayPal is peer-to-peer. There's still a central entity somewhere holding all the money and data.
- njepa 7y ago
  Sure, but cards are even more centralized. The "feature" of WeChat is that it can be used for almost anything. It is a cash successor more so that a card alternative. Anyone can print, display or scan a QR code. Doesn't matter if it is a store, a friend or a random person. Doesn't matter if it is in the physical world, on a website or in a chat. And it is easy to do. And almost everyone uses it. Contactless cards only matches WeChat in the same way something like Apple Pay does.
  - teknologist 7y ago
    I am not seeing the value in being able to print QR codes unless your business is selling fruit on the street (to be fair, a lot of businesses in China are just this). The more secure analogy comparable in price would be solutions like Square and PayPal Here. Smartphones are ubiquitous.

A2017U1 7y ago

My contactless card works nowhere outside my small home country. Meanwhile Chinese tourists are there seamlessly buying food from 7/11 with alipay whole I go through the full pin and card thing. As the other reply says too, any shop can set this up easily. I challenge you to take contactless payments in your home country, it's nothing like simply getting a qr payment and involves merchant banking. I've seen tiny remote rural village stores that would never even imagine having a visa PoS terminal with big wechat payment signs out front.

teknologist 7y ago
I've used contactless Visa to buy things in Japan, Singapore and several other places. It's a UK card though so maybe there's something different going on there