WeChat getting serious with games and payments

WeChat, the Chinese popular messaging app sweeping through the emerging markets, has introduced mobile payments, a game center, and a sticker store in its latest iOS update, reports Tech in Asia. WeChat has been growing in popularity over the last few months with rollouts in various parts of the world.

The free instant messaging app has around 400-million registered users globally with around 70-million of those outside of China. The introduction of the new features is hardly surprising given the pressure for the app the monetize as the instant messaging game heats up.

In order to use the mobile payment feature, users need to link an online banking profile to their WeChat account to beginning paying for services. Merchants on the other hand will have to set up corporate accounts to accept such payments.

According to a China Daily June report, merchants can set up a corporate accounts for users to follow though all the “technical integration and support for these vendors, including page design and payment linkups,” would be handled by WeChat (Hat tip: The Next Web). According to rumours, McDonald’s is already testing the service.

The update has also seen WeChat add its first game to the new gaming center, Tian Tian Ai Xiao Chu, which is described by Tech in Asia as being a little bit like Bejeweled. According to the report, there are more games being tested for the platform, with a total of 11 eventually expected to appear on it.

The new sticker store aggregates all of the platforms existing stickers into a one store for users ease, it also allows users to purchase more “premium” stickers.

According to WeChat’s iTunes page, the updated app will also now allow users to save favorite content clippings from chats or Moments, and now you can add friends nearby easily with the new Hold Together function.