It's the central government which has dictated the use of domestic bank accounts for name verification (with a possible exception, I'm not sure, for Hong Kong people).
I can speak on this behalf.
We are still subject to the name verification, because we have Chinese issued travel document (and that's the document needed for many things in China). The only exception is we are allowed not to have a Chinese address and phone number.
Point is, Alipay and Wechat aren't free to set up an alternative passport channel without government OK.
Exactly.
Originally Posted by
travelinmanS
The Chinese tech companies just seem to be producing the best technology these days, certainly when it comes to one application integrating everything you “need”; we chat has no peers anywhere in the world.
The technology is not something new. And again -- the success of these processors are the direct result of the failure of the PBC.
Just because Alipay and Wechat Pay are successfuly in China, it does not automatically mean it will be a success somewhere else. For example, the most popular payment method in Hong Kong is still Octopus.