(Chinese Version)

Indeed, Alipay has never stopped to compete with WeChat.

In the wave set off by WeChat’s Mini Program, featuring both the fanatic agitation of "traffic dividend" and the helpless judgment of "limited scenario", Alipay has always seemed to be a "bystander", thought it is also a key gateway to the Chinese Internet world. Previously, TMTPost exclusively revealed during this year’s Spring Festival that Alipay would soon launch its own Mini Program-like product. However, in the twinkling of an eye, it is already early summer, but we still didn’t see any trace of Alipay’s any move.

Recently, however, TMTPost found that Alipay’s similar product would be officially launched near the end of May. If nothing prevents, Alipay’s killer product AR Open Platform will be launched together with its Mini Program-like product.

We started to cooperate with Alipay’s AR team this March. They did a research over different AR products and settled on a few ones. So we are asked to help out and explore daily user scenarios where AR technology can be applied, an insider revealed TMTPost.

In other words, Alipay is planning to open access its AR recognition technology to ISVs and business brands. Therefore, its positioning is quite different from WeChat Mini Program’s. In this case, Scan ; AR is only a gateway to Alipay’s giant AR platform. When users scan and identify a product, a LOGO or an object, it’s for different ISVs to decide what specific functions they want to achieve.

Besides AR Open Platform and Mini Program-like product, the insider also revealed to TMTPost that Alipay’s notorious Life Circle, which was launched and soon withdrawn for concerns over spreading obscene information, was going to be adjusted to partly serve its community function. Several teams have been negotiating over details, so it might be launched a little later, the insider said.

As a matter of fact, Alipay has already been testing its AR Open Platform. In the opening ad of a recent episode of U Can U BIBI Season 4, audience were encouraged to scan Head ; Shoulders’ LOGO and collect discount vouchers.

Ai Li, a debating contestant in U Can U BIBI Season 4, was encouraging the audience to scan Head ; Shoulders’ LOGO and collect discount vouchers.

In this case example, while Alipay provides the AR Open Platform and allow users to scan and identity Head ; Shoulders’ LOGO, it’s for Head ; Shoulders to decide what comes next: an H5 page, Alipay Mini Program page, etc.

Why is Alipay so keen in AR?