The 101 Building is a landmark in Taipei and is a favourite place for mainland tourists. Before and after the Spring Festival last year, WeChat paid to go online at Taipei 101. One year later, during the Chinese New Year of the Rooster Year, the consumption of mainland tourists at Taipei 101 was almost 5 times higher than the number of consumer transactions using WeChat. The amount grew by 8 times.
In July last year, Alipay paid the bill. Today, the entire 101 Building Mall, WeChat payment and Alipay payment each have more than 200 points.
What needs to be reminded is that WeChat payment is specifically targeted at mainland tourists. Only mainland accounts can be used. Wechat-paid red envelopes can only be received by mainland terminals. Prior to this, mainland tourists had to first exchange Taiwanese currency for this tall building with the world's fastest elevator.
Those places where mainland tourists like to go, such as Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store, Hwang Shifu Beef Noodle House, Lin Maosen Tea House, and Nissan Honpano Store have already supported WeChat payment. Even the artists on Ximending Street can use WeChat to pay. A green flag with a large WeChat payment. He told reporters that since WeChat paid, his business has increased by 20%.
Taking out the mobile phone and sweeping the code to pay, the people's payment habits without thinking about the mainland are gradually becoming a wave on the other side of the strait.
"Acquiring"
Building 101 was the first to access WeChat. Before and after the Spring Festival last year, when accessing WeChat, the entire building was covered by the green paid by WeChat. In fact, according to the original plan, the 101 building would like to be accessed by the end of 2015, but it will take some time because of the promotion of material production cycle, training of clerk, and integration of POS machines. These preparations are done just in time for the Spring Festival. The mainland tourists who went to Taiwan on the Spring Festival last year were the first to use WeChat to pay.
The first batch of 101 buildings supported WeChat payment, closely related to the first bank of shareholders behind him. Wu Bochen is the manager of the digital application department of Taiwan's No. 1 bank. He is the trader of a number of electronic payment services such as cross-border payment of No. 1 bank, and is also the implementer of accessing the No. 101 building to the No. 1 bank's WeChat payment.
The first bank is a bank with an official background and the fiscal system accounts for 30% of the shares. The First Bank has 189 business locations throughout Taiwan and exceeds 5 million customer base. The First Bank and the six largest banks in the Mainland also signed the MOU. In addition, it has several branches and sub-branches in the Americas, Australia, and Europe.
In Taiwan, there are 39 banks and 1.48 million SMEs. The first bank accounted for 26%, while the majority of the customers of the First Bank were corporate customers, of which the department store accounted for 60% of the total, including 101, Beijing Railway Station Department Store, Yida World, etc.
In 2012, the two-year chairman Cai Qingnian wanted to promote the transformation of the First Bank. Wu Bochen said that China Trust has an advantage in the consumer financial market, especially the acquiring business. This first bank is relatively weak. At that time, they were wondering if there was any way. Apart from the original profit-making model that could continue to grow, it was not necessary to open up another market.
At that time, the topic of mobile payment by third parties in the Mainland was very hot on the Taiwan media. That year, the First Bank also began his own online payment path. In February, it became the only official authorized to be approved by the third-party payment mechanism of the operating network. In April, First Bank set up a third-party payment service working group.
"We went to develop in 2012. We want to refer to the practice in the Mainland and want to be a third party payment in Taiwan." Wu Bochen said. In June, he began to fly to the Mainland and negotiated cooperation with Alipay, Tenpay, and Loan. In August, First Bank set up a working group on cross-border collection and payment services, and launched related online payment services in November. In May, after the year passed, the First Bank cooperated with TenPay to collect payments. In 14 years, Alipay also signed payment and payment services.
While the First Bank was trying to pay for electronic payments, Taiwan’s third-party payment (mobile payment) was also developing. The manager once had a period of brutal growth. According to Chen Yiting, the mobile payment market in Taiwan has seen many mobile payment service providers in the early stages of development. However, there is a lack of management that lacks a unified decree. Occasionally, this caused market confusion.
In May 2015, it was a turning point in cross-border mobile payment in Taiwan. Taiwan’s “Golden Management Council†has uniformly accepted the management of electronic payments and has issued regulations for the management of electronic payment institutions. Afterwards, electronic payment agencies must obtain approval from the “Golden Management Council†to legally comply with regulations such as third-party payment, mobile payment, and cross-border payment...etc.
After the introduction of the regulations, many banks in Taiwan can quickly apply for approval and become an electronic payment institution concurrently, applying for business within regulations and regulations. Other non-bank interested parties that intend to undertake electronic payment services must apply to the “Finance Management Council†to issue a franchise. Electronic payment agency license.
Yushan Bank and First Bank were the first banks to declare that they could cooperate with cross-border traders in cross-border payment. Yushan Bank's application for cooperation is Alipay, and the first bank's application is WeChat. More than a dozen Taiwanese banks, including Shin Kong Bank and South China Bank, have submitted applications before the end of 2015.
This year, the first bank network payment entered the mature period. After Taiwan issued the regulations for the management of electronic payment institutions, it successfully obtained qualifications and carried out related cross-border payment services. In January 2016, we launched WeChat Payment Bank.
With the approval of Yushan Bank and the First Bank, Alipay and WeChat entered the Taiwan cross-border line at almost the same time, completing the jump from online to offline.
Wu Bochen said that the First Bank hopes to cooperate with WeChat payment in the future and launch WeChat payment in branches of other countries and regions.
“We have a three-step process. The first step is for WeChat to serve the mainland people to come to Taiwan. The second step is WeChat Taiwan, which is to enable Taiwan to achieve WeChat payment locally. The third step is WeChat Global.â€
Regarding the hopes of the First Bank, Yin Jie, head of WeChat Payment's cross-border business, responded by saying that he would be happy to cooperate in the future. It is only difficult at present, and WeChat's business in Taiwan is only an extension of geography. “For foreign residents using WeChat payment, it should be a problem that will be considered for a long time. It cannot be said that it will not be done, but it is difficult to do in the short term. Local regulatory requirements, local acceptance of mobile payments and WeChat issues. It is more difficult to come." Yin Jie said.
"connection"
At about 11 a.m. on January 6, one step into the Master Chef's Beef Noodle Restaurant, he heard that there was no Mandarin in Taiwan. A continental group of tourists is eating noodles, chatting and sharing new things here. Such scenes have been performed every day for several years in the past, but there is one more thing on the table than a small dish, WeChat pays for the table card.
The Master Chef Beef Noodle Restaurant is the earliest visit to a group of local residents. It has been five years since. In 2011, free travel in Taiwan gradually opened up, and mainland tourists to Taiwan increased year by year. Statistics from the National Tourism Administration show that in 2011, mainland residents traveled to Taiwan with 1.845 million trips, an increase of 11%. Since then, it has grown year by year, including free trips. In 2015, only travel agencies organized 3.48 million trips to the mainland for mainland residents. So far, the mainland is still Taiwan's first tourist departure point. However, in November 2016, the Taiwan Ministry of Transport and Tourism released data showing that mainland tourists to Taiwan have dropped significantly, and free trade may have seen negative growth for the first time since 2011.
On December 28 last year, the report released by WeChat also showed that Taiwan has become the most visited place for WeChat users except the United States. Japan, South Korea and Thailand followed. At the same time, the travel of Taiwan compatriots to the Mainland has also continued to increase over the years.
In 2015, 4.18 million mainland tourists traveled to Taiwan, accounting for 40% of Taiwan's inbound passengers. It was Taiwan's largest source of inbound passengers and also brought about about 220 billion foreign exchange earnings.
However, the largest “complex†between tourists and businesses in mainland China is the currency. The exchange of RMB to Taiwan dollars upon entry, the calculation of exchange rates at the time of consumption, and the handling of tax refunds are all small things, but they are troublesome.
Six months ago, Master Hong joined WeChat payment. "It's so convenient. Guests don't have to take cash." Chief Hong Hong Beef Noodle Executive Hong Jinlong said that in his noodle shop, there are several types of local payment providers for mobile payment, but WeChat payment is more popular.
After dinner, a customer checks out with WeChat. In the chat, she learned that the lady is from Chengdu. She said that the day before she went to buy, buy, and buy, and later found that there was no exchange of Taiwanese currency. The use of mobile phone codes to pay today is the same as the consumption in the Mainland. It is much more convenient.
Recently, due to the reduction of mainland tourists, the turnover of the entire noodle shop is declining. Master Hong said that after accessing WeChat payment, the company added 20% extra turnover each month for the first two months of the month, mainly accompanied by a gift (Hong Master Beef Jerky), which grew by NT$6.7 million per month. The proportion of hand-to-hand ceremonies in this noodle shop accounted for 30% to 40% of WeChat's payment, and it is still growing. Access to WeChat payment processing is also relatively fast. Originally, Master Hong has cooperated with Shinko Bank, and now there is only one payment method. This payment method is very convenient.
Hong Jinlong is very enthusiastic and likes to take photos with people. After adding WeChat, he quickly sent photos of many noodle restaurants. With the spread of word of mouth, Master Hung Beef has 8 branches in the Mainland. In 2011, it opened its first mainland branch in Wangfujing.
Like Master Hong, he likes to communicate with the mainland tourists using WeChat. Chen Da, the founder of Chen Da's handmade soap, also has a story with mainland tourists for five years. Every year he will go to the Mainland to participate in the exhibition and introduce his handmade soap. His WeChat is filled with customers from the mainland. Every year at the Beijing Cultural Fair, he arrives as expected and invites friends from the Mainland to participate in the circle of friends. Many mainland friends will visit his shop in the Red House in Ximen. In the shop on the Ximen Red House, he opened WeChat, allowing buyers to check QR codes.
The service bank of Hong Master Beef Noodles is Shin Kong Bank, which is a subsidiary of Shin Kong Group, a family-owned company with 105 branches across Taiwan. Shinko Bank relatively speaking, the body is relatively small, has always hoped to develop with a different approach. Among its clients are many customers frequented by land passengers, such as Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store, which is frequented by the group's mainland tourists, and Chunghwa Telecom, Hong Shifu Beef Noodle, Sheng Hengchang Golden Lake Hotel, Home Hotel, and Salsa. In April 2016, Shinko Bank officially launched the WeChat payment service and soon introduced WeChat payment to its customers.
“We chose WeChat to be our partner, mainly because we understand that WeChat is closely related to the lives of the people on the mainland.†Shinko Bank told reporters that he hopes that in addition to serving mainland tourists, he can also contact new customers through WeChat. The tentacle is Shinco Bank’s WeChat. The public number. Currently, Shinko Bank has more than 10,000 WeChat payment points on the line. In terms of business, Shinko Bank stated that they hope to bring more traffic to merchants through WeChat payment, build trust, and introduce Shin Kong to other businesses.
Although the number of micro-channels operated by several banks in Taiwan was younger than that of the mainland's WeChat. “Taipei 101′′ WeChat No. This newest version of the company is very fond of using the “Blue Mushrooms†stalk. It appears in almost every piece of push. It also uses the expression package, simplified Chinese characters under traditional Chinese characters. The graphic always makes you want to laugh, it seems to be a foolish person.
"Back feeding"
In June 2016, Chen Yiting, who had five years of career experience in the local mobile payment industry in Taiwan, experienced a small turning point in his career. He resigned from Taiwan’s Big Brother University and joined Tencent, and began to engage in the investment promotion and promotion of WeChat payment. Previously, he was responsible for paying for investment promotion in Big Brother University.
Chen Yiting recalled that around November 2015, WeChat was looking for a candidate suitable for landing WeChat payment in Taiwan and found Chen Yiting.
“Pushing mobile payments means that cross-border speech rights are more prevalent than that of local merchants. My goal is to eventually realize that mobile payments are accepted by all merchants and consumers, and this can be achieved through Tencent’s WeChat service. Chen Yiting said.
The so-called right to speak is that who has a lower rate and who can bring more customers. For Taiwanese businessmen, letting its mainland consumers pay bills, getting accurate portraits of consumers, establishing long-term contacts, and passing on information to these buyers is what they care about most. In the past, payment could be completed through UnionPay or other payment methods. However, merchants could not reach land passengers or land passengers, but land passengers could not control land passengers. However, land passengers have a large amount of transactions. This is the biggest worry for Taiwanese merchants. .
For banks, the WeChat payment rate is lower than the original business model, such as UnionPay, credit cards, etc., that is to say, each transaction is paid by WeChat, and the profit is even less. Why is it positive? In conversations with a number of banks, it was found that for banks, they need to have a good relationship with their own customers, that is, merchants, and the merchants' demands can have more transactions and lower rates.
Deeply aware of the pain points of Taiwanese businesses, WeChat Payment has been promoting the WeChat public number connection function in the early days of promotion in Taiwan. To explain the matter, Taiwanese merchants are not free to apply for the WeChat public number like mainland merchants and engage in financial transactions. According to Taiwan’s regulations, only banks can engage in third-party cross-border payment cooperation. As a result, merchants must open the WeChat public number and they must also be opened by the bank.
Wu Bochen said that the handling fee is the first key, and the second key is that most of their customers are small businesses, and they need a quick cash flow. The length of the account period is the second key. The contract between the First Bank and WeChat is that once every 5,000 US dollars is filled, the first payment will be made. If it is not enough, it means that the funds have been hovering. The First Bank hopes that big merchants can bring small businesses. This is why they first hoped to start WeChat payment in 101.
The First Bank and Alipay and TenPay have all cooperated, paid offline, and finally introduced WeChat payment. Wu Bochen said, “WeChat has a public number, the public number is needed by merchants. It is like facebook. Wechat itself is like Line, so WeChat is equal to Facebook+Line. This is a factor for us to choose Tencent.†At present, the First Bank and Taipei 101 are both The WeChat public number was opened, and various promotions and consultations for mainland tourists were pushed. The former has been operating since the end of 2015 and currently has more than 50,000 followers.
Since the on-line WeChat payment, currently more than 200 brands can be used. The number of pen-payments paid by WeChat accounts for nearly 30% of the tax refunds for land and passengers every month. Despite the contraction of mainland tourist groups traveling to Taiwan, the transaction volume of 101 has decreased significantly, but the transaction volume of WeChat payment continues to grow.
“Before, it was a piece of desert, concept communication and infrastructure construction period. Now, the merchants basically understand mobile payment in seconds. However, in the official website, who has invested in high resources, who has strong marketing value, and whose members have many, the merchants will Give priority to working with them,†said Chen Yiting.
Chen Yiting said that he joins Tencent. The biggest hope is that the cross-border mobile payment will eventually drive the development of the entire mobile payment in Taiwan. "Facts also prove that with 30,000 merchants and 6 large banks in one year, it is indeed a great achievement for WeChat payment."
Since WeChat Payment and Alipay took root in Taiwan, Taiwan’s mobile payment is becoming a common practice. Due to WeChat payment and Alipay's topic in Taiwan, it really attracted many merchants who are more willing to accept local mobile payment service providers. The entire market is growing instantly. After Alipay and WeChat paid to enter Taiwan, 7-11 and Family Convenience Stores, Taiwan Grand Team, and Metropolitan Team (Taxi Federation) began to accept other local mobile payment service providers.