TD Ameritrade Integrates With Tencent’s WeChat

TD Ameritrade, the Omaha, Nebraska online brokerage, announced Monday (December 3) that it is the first U.S.-based brokerage to integrate with Tencent’s WeChat messaging system, which is wildly popular in China.

In a press release issued Monday (December 3), TD Ameritrade said that users can do research, access the markets and get support through WeChat, which recently reached 1 billion in monthly active users. “We want to meet our clients where they are and engage with them on their terms. Our goal in applying technologies like AI and machine learning to the conversational platforms people use every day is to help make investing simpler and more accessible to more people,” said Sunayna Tuteja, head of strategic partnerships and emerging technologies at TD Ameritrade in a press release announcing the integration. “When building this experience, we tapped into the bespoke features unique to WeChat like ‘Mini Programs’ and ‘Shake’ to make access to and learning about the markets particularly engaging.”

With the new service, WeChat customers can get updates on U.S. markets, get a quote, track company events or trends, access education videos and get answers to frequently-asked questions. “TD Ameritrade joins thousands of renowned brands that are already using the power of WeChat’s scale and unique features to enhance customer engagement and service. WeChat has been expanding its offering globally, and we are very excited that TD Ameritrade is using WeChat to bring our unrivaled convenience and accessibility to its customers,” said Juliet Zhu, general manager and head of WeChat Marketing at Tencent in the same press release.

Integrating with WeChat is just the latest technology advancement the brokerage has made. In October it announced it enhanced its Alexa skill, enabling customers to place trades via voice commands. In a press release, TD Ameritrade said enabling clients to learn about the markets and place trades on Alexa-enabled devices via voice is a first for the industry. In addition to getting quick answers to market questions and placing trades, customers can also use voice commands to check account balances, get information about the account’s history and get ongoing customized market updates from TD Ameritrade.