It is customary to send New Year well-wishes to your friends on the eve of Chinese New Year. As technology has altered the way people in China carry out certain traditions during Chinese New Year, at no point is it clearer that Weixin, the version of WeChat available in the country, has emerged as a front runner in the wave of change. More people are flocking to the app instead of sending cards or SMS-es.
The Weixin team came upon a brilliant idea of taking the Chinese New Year tradition of gifting money into the digital era. Basically, rather than (or, perhaps, in addition to) giving red envelopes of money to family and friends, Weixin users could tap into digital payments and send monetary gifts of up to CNY100 (around $16.50) per go to others on the chat app.
As WeChat moves into verticals such as m-commerce, it wouldn't be any surprise if the app soon disrupts other traditions next year. Who knows, we may just get to see Chinese New Year grocery shopping or delivery, or the booking of transportation back to people’s hometowns, done entirely via WeChat in the future.
