Matt and John start with Alipay's recent "smile to pay" demo and end with a discussion on why WeChat went into payments in the first place. Along the way, they talk about:

- Alipay and WeChat's money market funds
- WeChat's new money market fund feature
- The dangers and benefits of ubiquitous facial recognition
-The role WeChat and Alipay are playing in reshaping retail banking in China
-Whether Alipay can ever become a platform like WeChat

20: Alipay vs WeChat and why smile to pay matters

China Tech Talk is a weekly podcast about what's happening on the ground in China's tech and startup ecosystems.

It is hosted by John Artman, Editor-in-Chief of TechNode English, and Matthew Brennan, founder of ChinaChannel

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As the coronavirus swept through China, communities, local governments, and business have been trying to figure out how to best follow social isolation rules. This being China, of course, tech majors and telcos jumped at the chance to serve the country by leveraging their vast data pools. But how much tech is actually behind the country's health code systems? Should we be more worried about how China is using data

89:  Just how much tech is in China's health code?

The coronavirus epidemic doesn't show any signs of getting any better just yet. While the future of the outbreak is still unclear, the winners and losers of this are clear. In this episode, Matt and John discuss how the coronavirus is changing the face of tech in China.

88: Coronavirus & China tech: Winners and losers

This episode, Matt and John embark on a wide-ranging discussion about China tech in 2019. Using Bytedance as a lens, they explore the disruptive power of new companies, Bytedance's successes and challenges outside of China, as well as what the world is learning from China tech.

87: China tech through the lens of Bytedance

China's social credit system (SCS) gets a lot of attention outside of China yet it's still very misunderstood. Many scholars and China watchers have shed light on the topic, but none have done it so concisely and accessibly as Kendra Schaefer and her team at Trivium China.  She joins us this week to explain how the SCS is a broad framework for better regulation and enforcement and how it applies to companies, individuals, and government agencies.

86: China's social credit system: Everything you know is wrong with Kendra Schaefer

After an extended hiatus, John and Matt are back! This week, they look at the increasingly effective trend of private traffic. Powered by WeChat and its mini programs, marketers and brands are increasingly creating and driving organic traffic to their shops. Like owned traffic in the West, this is a direct response to the rising costs of reaching fans and followers. Matt delivered a presentation on the topic during the ChinaChat 2019 conference and they take a deep dive into the phenomenon this week.

20: Alipay vs WeChat and why smile to pay matters

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