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Payment solutions

One of the biggest hurdles for foreign companies, who are keen to be a part of the Chinese e-commerce market, is the absence of uniform payment solutions. That looks set to change now as companies such as Tencent are now coming up with solutions that offer safety and ease in transactions.

Tencent has enabled online transactions for select merchants by linking payment services to its popular WeChat smartphone application that has more than 300 million users globally. The application lets users send voice messages, photos and other media the way they might send text messages, without charging any extra fees. Since early June, WeChat has empowered a select few of its registered corporate accounts with online shopping facilities. WeChat does all back-end technical integration and support for these vendors, including page design and payment linkups. Online transactions are made available through credit cards, online banking or TenPay, the company's third-party payment platform.

The application has already attracted foreign retailers such as fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. The retailer has opened an online channel on WeChat and offers several discounts to customers who complete transactions using the WeChat framework.

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