Name: Why It's So Hard for Meta, PayPal and X to Build a Super App Like WeChat | WSJ
Uploaded: 2024-01-19T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 5 min 38 s
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and your mobile wallet needs to be updated.

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

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

- [Narrator] Though some apps have multiple functions,

The app launched in 2011 as a social media

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.

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

By 2022, WeChat had 1.3 billion active users

and helped its parent company bring in a revenue

between the different parts of that super app.

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

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

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.

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.

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

- [Narrator] Facebook Messenger said it would simplify

its app back in 2018 after adding features like games.

Another key issue is incorporating a payment system.

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,

that you can control the transaction costs.

Maybe you're making a better margin in the transaction

- [Narrator] But integrating that payment system

a financial services company right out of the box.

There's different international rules and things like that.

- [Narrator] Facebook's attempt at integrating

because lawmakers and regulators were concerned

about payments being used for illicit activity.

And data privacy can also become a concern

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Why It's So Hard for Meta, PayPal and X to Build a Super App Like WeChat | WSJ

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