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A few things worth being aware of Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay. It does not have any access to WeChat data. So far the "soc
by adinobro 7y ago
A few things worth being aware of Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay. It does not have any access to WeChat data.
So far the "social credit" on seems to be mostly based on how much you buy and it only seems to give you discounts to massively overpriced products (similar to a credit card reward system).
You don't really download apps in Wechat but rather add a link more like a Facebook App (JavaScript & HTML).
Chinese people tend to like one app that does everything. Most of the services talked about in the article as separate services that you can open in WeChat but you can also open most of them in AliPay or Taobao or access them directly on their own websites. This is what Facebook tried to do but failed...
What I find fascinating is that a lot of older people that use WeChat in China are illiterate apart from numbers. They do everything by remembering the pictures and other people help them to set up their account. That is part of the reason why they want a single app that does everything. You don't need to read since you can just send messages, look at pictures and iconography.
Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I just found out my sesame-credit score is 622 (not that it does anything...)
- jstanley 7y ago> You don't need to read since you can just send messages How can illiterate people send messages?
- robjan 7y agoIn countries and regions where Chinese is spoken, people heavily use the voice message functionality.
- adinobro 7y agoThere is a button that you hold down and it sends a voice message (up to 60 seconds). They generally just send voice messages back and forth. There is also a + for extra features like: * Sending a photo * Sending a short video * Calling * Money * Location You don't need to be able to read to use any of them.
- ggg2 7y agosame way toddlers install apps: voice and voice to text input. also in china older generations migth be literate but not capable of typing in a phone/computer.
- powerapple 7y agoSesame credit score is used when you use to book a hotel online, if you score is higher you don't need a deposit. It linked to how much money you can borrow from some services. It is basically a credit score similar to what you get from credit agency.
- adinobro 7y agoI don't stay in hotels that expensive (I generally have to pay up front) very often and since I'm not Chinese I don't have access to most loans here either.
- powerapple 7y agoI used it to borrow a power bank without deposit, or a shared bike. I am not suggesting anything about you, just trying to explain when sesame score can be used.
- JumpCrisscross 7y ago> It is basically a credit score similar to what you get from credit agency With the salient difference of judging one’s political views and affiliations. Like if FICO took into account the number of times you praised or criticised the President.
- powerapple 7y agoUmmm, no. That’s not true.
- NicoJuicy 7y agoBased on a documentary. Yes, it is. I'm also not suprised. A local TV guy did a travel guide for China, it was beautifull and he had gained access to a more secure facility ( a controversial dam that caused people to lose their house). No room for open questions ( had to ask it up front on paper, written). But when he asked a follow up question, the guide got really scared. You could just see it happen ( he was not allowed to film anymore after the question)
- michaelsattler 7y agoWith MiniApps you do download apps. When I was at Nike last year we rolled out into that ecosphere.
- rconti 7y agoIt's crazy to me that they decided to ALSO use a 950 max score. Like, you couldn't have been SLIGHTLY creative and made it out of 1000, or 100?
- zachguo 7y agoI can imagine it would be easier to be compatible with existing systems that businesses are using.
- envolt 7y ago> Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change. They do. But fake currency is very common in China. I was advised not to use cash. But since I'm not from China, I wasn't able to setup wechat pay account which is very common . Most of the restaurants I had been to had currency checker machines.
- kwizzt 7y agoOf all the time I've lived in China, I probably have only seen counterfeit money once in my life. Do you have any evidence to back up your claim?
- sib 7y agoJust out of curiosity, how would you know if you had seen counterfeit money?
- kwizzt 7y agoThat's a good point. I should say I've only seen the "low quality" counterfeit money once. The one I saw had similar texture as real money, but the paper was either thinner or thicker than the real one. I can't remember the details since it happened years ago.
- jason_slack 7y agoYou can crinkle the paper money in your fingers. Real money makes a unique sound. It is perfectly acceptable to test the money in front of the person you got it from. I had to use cash instead of WeChat a few times and the vendor also did this as a test.
- adinobro 7y agoThere is a metal strip in the real 100 RMB notes that most of the copies don't have.
- envolt 7y agoThe person, we went to meet told us that counterfeit money is very common. I don't have any evidence.
- chenster 7y agoI stopped reading after "Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay"... What are you talking about?? Alipay and Alibaba are under the same AliGroup umbrella, not its competitor. 30% of Alibaba stake is actually owned by Japanese conglomerate holding company SoftBank
- kwizzt 7y agoI think he meant Alibaba owns Alipay, which is a competitor to WeChat's payment system.
- skinnymuch 7y agoAlibaba doesn’t own Alipay. Alipay is owned by Ant Financial. I think a small minority might be Alibaba owned. But perhaps not even that much.
- skinnymuch 7y agoWhat AliGroup umbrella? You mean an unofficial one since Alipay is owned by Ant Financial which is independent. The post says Alibaba owns Alipay. Not WeChat.
- iliketosleep 7y ago> Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change. There's a growing minority of vendors that no longer accept cash (they have signs up saying so), but from what I've seen it's only in areas with youthful populations.
- skinnymuch 7y agoAlibaba doesn’t own Alipay. Alipay’s parent company is the independent Ant Financial. Considered a startup by some still.