WeChat looks to expand in U.S., Europe with payment service

WeChat, China’s most popular social media and messaging service, is looking to develop its payments service in the United States and Europe, where it hopes to attract new advertisers.

“We needed to make a step closer in serving European brands,” said Tencent Europe director Andrea Ghizzoni.

In 2013, the app hired soccer star Lionel Messi for a high-profile campaign outside of China.

WeChat is hoping its expansion in Europe lure more high-profile brands to the platform, not only to reach consumers in China, but also Chinese tourists visiting Europe.

Chinese customers are using the service to pay for everything from ride-hailing services to restaurant takeout orders.

[...] while WeChat has been one of the leading providers in offering chat-based payment systems, it faces increasing competition from global competitors.

Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, has been expanding its payments offering within its messaging apps, while Alibaba Group’s finance affiliate has been busy pushing Alipay in Europe.

In August, Ant Financial, Alipay’s parent, announced a partnership with Ingenico Group, a French payments group, to allow Chinese tourists to pay for goods in Europe through the group’s e-wallet platform.