• 397 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 402 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 404 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 407 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 407 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 408 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 409 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 410 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 414 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 414 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 415 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 417 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 418 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 421 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 422 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 422 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 424 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
  • 425 days Europe’s Economy Is On The Brink As Putin’s War Escalates
  • 428 days What’s Causing Inflation In The United States?
  • 429 days Intel Joins Russian Exodus as Chip Shortage Digs In
Fake Reviews Go All The Way To The Top

Fake Reviews Go All The Way To The Top

Monitoring service Fakespot Inc found…

Another Banner Year for Billionaires

Another Banner Year for Billionaires

Unsurprisingly, last year was very…

SuperBowl Is About to Set a New Betting Record

SuperBowl Is About to Set a New Betting Record

This Sunday, the Rams are…

  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Breaking News

Western Union Eyes China's $1 Trillion Fintech Market

Hong Kong

Digital payments through Chinese messaging app WeChat have risen to a mind-blowing $1.2 trillion as of 2016, and in the first quarter of last year, the app accounted for a whopping 40 percent of all mobile transactions in China.

That’s a lucrative market—to say the least.

One in four international students in the world is Chinese—and Western Union isn’t going to be left out of the lucrative money-sending opportunities this represents, announcing Monday that it has added WeChat Pay to its product.

“Mobile payments play a key role in the day-to-day life of China’s digitally-savvy population,” media cited Adam Tiberi, senior vice president, strategy and product, Western Union Business Solutions, as saying. “Being able to use WeChat Pay and other popular payment platforms is crucial for Chinese students. As the largest international student population in the world, Chinese students expect universities to offer them simple and convenient payment experiences. Our latest update to GlobalPay for Students allows our education customers to provide an enhanced experience for their Chinese students.”

“China accounts for about a quarter of international students in the world,” Raymond Qu, Founder and CEO, Geoswift Limited, with which WU has an alliance, told media. “The country is instrumental in shaping the trends for international student payments. This poses a huge opportunity for academic institutions across the world to attract Chinese students by providing appropriate payment opportunities. We are delighted to build on our existing alliance with Western Union to further enable this opportunity.” Related: What's Behind Today's Cybercrime Explosion?

WeChat Pay has officially been added to WU’s GlobalPay for Students product—made possible through an alliance with Chinese Geoswift, a payment solutions company. What it means is that users, through academic institutions, will have a wider range of digital payment options from abroad.

WU stock was trading up today on the news because when it comes to FinTech, it’s been a clear leader at adopting new digital solutions in time to take advantage of major market opportunities.

(Click to enlarge)

The money transfer giant will report earnings today as well, and analysts are particularly upbeat, expecting an upside from higher contribution in its consumer-to-consumer segment, which represents 80 percent of its revenues. Worldwide immigration is growing, and this means soaring demand for money remittance.

Related: What Really Drives The Price Of Gold?

In 2016, global remittances totaled $573 billion, hitting $613 billion last year for a 7-percent increase, according to the World Bank. For 2018, global remittances are expected to grow another 4.6 percent, reaching $642 billion.

Moody’s has pointed out that big banks are lagging behind Fintech companies to secure this massive market share, saying that the “bank of the future” will be the one that caters to customers’ “evolving digital expectations”. So far, WU is doing just that.

The WU announcement also comes at the same time that the Chinese authorities have admitted they have access to deleted WeChat messages, and access that data without the permission of the users as part of the emerging ‘Social Credit Score’ system detailed last week.

By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment