A few things worth being aware of Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay. It does not have any access to WeChat data.
So far the "social credit" on seems to be mostly based on how much you buy and it only seems to give you discounts to massively overpriced products (similar to a credit card reward system).
You don't really download apps in Wechat but rather add a link more like a Facebook App (JavaScript & HTML).
Chinese people tend to like one app that does everything. Most of the services talked about in the article as separate services that you can open in WeChat but you can also open most of them in AliPay or Taobao or access them directly on their own websites. This is what Facebook tried to do but failed...
What I find fascinating is that a lot of older people that use WeChat in China are illiterate apart from numbers. They do everything by remembering the pictures and other people help them to set up their account. That is part of the reason why they want a single app that does everything. You don't need to read since you can just send messages, look at pictures and iconography.
Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I just found out my sesame-credit score is 622 (not that it does anything...)
Sesame credit score is used when you use to book a hotel online, if you score is higher you don't need a deposit. It linked to how much money you can borrow from some services. It is basically a credit score similar to what you get from credit agency.
> It is basically a credit score similar to what you get from credit agency
With the salient difference of judging one’s political views and affiliations. Like if FICO took into account the number of times you praised or criticised the President.
I'm also not suprised. A local TV guy did a travel guide for China, it was beautifull and he had gained access to a more secure facility ( a controversial dam that caused people to lose their house).
No room for open questions ( had to ask it up front on paper, written). But when he asked a follow up question, the guide got really scared. You could just see it happen ( he was not allowed to film anymore after the question)
I don't stay in hotels that expensive (I generally have to pay up front) very often and since I'm not Chinese I don't have access to most loans here either.
I used it to borrow a power bank without deposit, or a shared bike. I am not suggesting anything about you, just trying to explain when sesame score can be used.
> Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
They do. But fake currency is very common in China. I was advised not to use cash. But since I'm not from China, I wasn't able to setup wechat pay account which is very common .
Most of the restaurants I had been to had currency checker machines.
That's a good point. I should say I've only seen the "low quality" counterfeit money once. The one I saw had similar texture as real money, but the paper was either thinner or thicker than the real one. I can't remember the details since it happened years ago.
You can crinkle the paper money in your fingers. Real money makes a unique sound. It is perfectly acceptable to test the money in front of the person you got it from.
I had to use cash instead of WeChat a few times and the vendor also did this as a test.
> Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
There's a growing minority of vendors that no longer accept cash (they have signs up saying so), but from what I've seen it's only in areas with youthful populations.
I stopped reading after "Alibaba does not own WeChat but rather's it's competition Alipay"...
What are you talking about??
Alipay and Alibaba are under the same AliGroup umbrella, not its competitor. 30% of Alibaba stake is actually owned by Japanese conglomerate holding company SoftBank
So far the "social credit" on seems to be mostly based on how much you buy and it only seems to give you discounts to massively overpriced products (similar to a credit card reward system).
You don't really download apps in Wechat but rather add a link more like a Facebook App (JavaScript & HTML).
Chinese people tend to like one app that does everything. Most of the services talked about in the article as separate services that you can open in WeChat but you can also open most of them in AliPay or Taobao or access them directly on their own websites. This is what Facebook tried to do but failed...
What I find fascinating is that a lot of older people that use WeChat in China are illiterate apart from numbers. They do everything by remembering the pictures and other people help them to set up their account. That is part of the reason why they want a single app that does everything. You don't need to read since you can just send messages, look at pictures and iconography.
Also, everyone in China still accepts cash but you generally need correct change.
If you have any questions feel free to ask. I just found out my sesame-credit score is 622 (not that it does anything...)