What problem do Hong Kong hotel and retail clients face the most in WeChat, and what can they do about it?
【Posted on: 2019 April】
Whether they’re in hospitality, beauty or retail business, our clients often face this one problem the most. Seeing as it is a very common one, we’ll share our answer here with everyone.
Many overseas clients looking to enter the China market are digitally savvy, and so, creating a Chinese WeChat account (Weixin) due to the popularity of the platform. These Weixin accounts were generally registered through domestic agencies or companies. With the support of overseas transactions by Chinese tourists through WeChat on the rise, many clients would like to open a WeChat official account so they can accept payments via WeChat Pay. This is something that we encourage, as publishing content on your WeChat official account alone is no longer an effective approach to grow the account – you need to leverage the WeChat ecosystem more fully, and WeChat Pay is a great starting point.
From there, a few more questions naturally arise: should I use a Weixin account? Do I add WeChat Pay to it or is there a Mini Program I need to integrate with it?
Simply put, the answer is no – you shouldn’t use a Weixin account. This is because Weixin (the Mainland Chinese version of WeChat) and WeChat (the international version used elsewhere) have nothing to do with each other when it comes to payment. To enable cross-border payments and Mini Programs on WeChat, you must apply for a WeChat official account that is unified. Unfortunately, many agencies only provide a partial service such as opening a WeChat Pay that is not properly linked to the correct version of a WeChat official account. This often results in clients being unable to accept cross-border payments as they’re using a Weixin account which faces restrictions under Hong Kong financial regulations, rather than an international WeChat account.
The solution is simple. You’ll need to use a WeChat official account to open a WeChat Store and use WeChat Pay, which would be consistent with your BR certificate per your application for a unified account.
If you’re facing a similar issue – using a Weixin account but needed to collect payments in Hong Kong – contact OctoPlus Media and let our team of experts help you create a one-stop solution that will tackle your WeChat marketing challenges.
Stay tuned to our WeChat 100 Q&A Series to learn more about WeChat and how it works.
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