- [Narrator] On your way to the office,

a message comes in from your boss.

Can you grab them a coffee?

They pay you back in a different app.

You go to another app

to place an order for pickup

and your mobile wallet needs to be updated.

(camera shutters) Okay, there.

Now coffee,

which took four apps to accomplish.

But in China, it takes just one.

WeChat, a super app.

- You just don't have to futz around with your phone,

remembering different passwords,

opening and closing different apps.

It just makes it easy.

- [Narrator] So why isn't there a super app in the US?

- My idea would be like,

how about if we just copy WeChat?

- [Narrator] Though some apps have multiple functions,

creating a super app in the US

is the holy grail for some tech CEOs,

and for good reason.

Take another look at WeChat.

The app launched in 2011 as a social media

and messaging service.

By the next year, it added a PayPal-like payment option.

And in the following years it would integrate a slew

of other features, including games, shopping,

food delivery, healthcare, and mini apps.

- It really sort of does everything.

In some ways, it's a stand-in for the internet itself.

- [Narrator] And users like it.

By 2022, WeChat had 1.3 billion active users

and helped its parent company bring in a revenue

of about $81 billion.

- The beauty of a super app is that

you're able to move seamlessly

between different functions,

share information and data

between the different parts of that super app.

That's what makes it work.

- [Narrator] And that data is the big draw for companies.

Let's look back at the apps you used

to make that coffee order again.

Apps in the US are largely restricted

from tracking you across your phone.

So each company is only collecting data

while their app is open.

But with WeChat, you don't have to leave it

to make that order or message your boss,

or even post a photo of that coffee on social media.

That one company gets your data for all of it.

- Having a better understanding of what people

are purchasing when they're purchasing those things,

you know, that becomes invaluable for a business.

Or if you're a government for, you know, tax purposes.

- [Narrator] That's one of the reasons

why companies from multiple industries in the US

have made attempts at creating a super app,

but their growth has been slowed by several things.

A super app in the US

would have to contend against thousands of other apps,

and changing consumer behavior can be difficult.

- We're not really used to using one app for everything.

And that's why when companies like Facebook in the past

have tried to launch singular apps

that do more than one thing at a time,

consumers have largely rejected them.

- [Narrator] Facebook Messenger said it would simplify

its app back in 2018 after adding features like games.

Its head, at the time, said that the app

had become too cluttered.

Another key issue is incorporating a payment system.

Take Snap for example.

Its payment system, Snapcash, shut down after four years,

while apps like Venmo and Zelle are growing.

- If you can integrate that payment system into a super app,

it just makes that app much more sticky.

But it also means, in most cases,

that you can control the transaction costs.

Maybe you're making a better margin in the transaction

and as your user base grows,

you start to scale.

- [Narrator] But integrating that payment system

is a big lift in the US.

- A lot of tech companies aren't also

a financial services company right out of the box.

It's complicated.

There's regulations involved.

There's different international rules and things like that.

- [Narrator] Facebook's attempt at integrating

a crypto payment system failed in part

because lawmakers and regulators were concerned

about payments being used for illicit activity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

has cracked down on big tech platforms

using payment systems in recent years.

And data privacy can also become a concern

for consumers and lawmakers.

- Right now, a lot of people distrust

the big tech companies,

and the idea of a single tech company,

like a Meta or an Amazon or a Google,

offering us an app that really houses

so many different things

from online payments to bill management

to health records, you know,

is kinda scary to people.

- [Narrator] And that becomes an issue for companies.

- I don't think at this point

technology companies are interested

in making it look like they are consolidating

their control over our digital lives

any more than they already have.

I mean, that would just invite regulatory scrutiny.

- [Narrator] Some experts and analysts

think the future for super apps in the US

may look different than WeChat.

- I think the path forward

for the super app concept in the United States

has more to do with verticals

than sort of a one ring to rule them all.

- [Narrator] So for example, a single healthcare app

might house your medical information,

as well as features for making appointments and payments.

- [Narrator] The first champion that emerges

and creates a seamless, frictionless super app-like program

that allowed doctors to plug in their data,

you know, electronic health records stuff,

I think that that is gonna be a huge, huge game changer.

A massive disruptor.

(upbeat music)