WeChat, China’s leading social networking and payments app, has now integrated the country’s central bank’s digital currency, the digital yuan, into its payment services, according to local reports. This move comes after Alipay, another leading payment platform, added the same functionality to its platform in December 2022. WeChat’s addition of the digital yuan quick pay feature allows users to make payments in certain mini-programs and platforms that support the digital yuan.

The pilot version of the digital yuan app’s “Fast Wallet Payments Management” page currently lists 94 platforms, now including WeChat, that can be accessed. The integration enables WeChat Pay to enable digital yuan payments in certain apps, such as McDonald’s food ordering and bill payments. However, users need to authorize the yuan digital wallet operator to sync their linked mobile phone number to WeChat in order to activate the fast payment function successfully.

According to Linghao Bao, an analyst at Trivium China, a strategic advisory firm, “Chinese consumers are so locked into WeChat Pay and Alipay that it’s unrealistic to convince them to switch to a new mobile payment app. So it makes sense for central bank to partner with WeChat Pay and Alipay instead of doing it on their own.”

The digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, is being tested in at least 26 Chinese provinces and cities. The token saw a surge in transaction volumes on Chinese e-commerce platforms during the 2023 Lunar New Year shopping season, helped by e-CNY handouts from the authorities.

Alipay had announced its access to the digital yuan acceptance network in December 2022, allowing users to spend digital yuan consumption on platforms served by Alipay, including Taobao, Shanghai Bus, Ele.me, Youbao, Tmall Supermarket and Hema.

As the integration of the digital yuan with major payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay grows, it is expected to become more widely adopted in China, potentially challenging existing payment methods such as cash and cards. The central bank’s collaboration with these platforms is likely to help broaden the appeal of the digital yuan among Chinese consumers who are already comfortable with these apps.