The emergence of social payment and usage of social apps for buying and selling services and products was considered as threats to the banking industry. The usage of WeChat in China has fundamentally altered the whole digital communication landscape. WeChat has over 1.17 billion users. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WeChat implemented various plans to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, including consumer awareness, WeChat live stream communication platform, and one-to-one consultation through social media services to assist retailers and increase sales. In addition, they implemented WeChat Work 3.0 for remote working during the pandemic, cross-border e-commerce, and Mini Club Program to converts overseas brick-and-mortar shoppers to online members. WeChat and Facebook facilitated WeChat pay and Facebook pay through their social commerce platform because of market power. This chapter discusses the emergence of WeChat and how it impacts the payment systems.
ICT, information asymmetry and market power in African banking industry
