Report: Apple Tells WeChat Parent Tencent to Eliminate Payment Loopholes

Apple is reportedly pressuring the makers of China’s most popular apps — WeChat and Douyin — to stop allowing in-app creators to steer users to payment systems outside the Apple platform.

The iPhone maker has threatened to reject updates to WeChat from Tencent Holdings and to Douyin from ByteDance unless the companies close those loopholes, Bloomberg reported Friday (Aug. 2).

An Apple spokesperson said in the report that the company’s guidelines specify that the sale of all digital goods must go through its system and that it may reject app submissions that violate that policy.

Tencent accepted Apple’s demand that it eliminate links used by mini-game developers to accept payment outside the Apple platform but has disputed the company’s demand that it disable an in-game messaging system, according to the report. Tencent has said that the messaging feature is important to the user experience.

ByteDance closed similar loopholes on its Douyin app after Apple asked it to do so, the report said.

The iPhone maker polices its app ecosystem to preserve quality and security, per the report.

At the same time, its moves targeting Tencent and ByteDance come at a time when it is dealing with challenges in the Chinese market and facing regulatory scrutiny around the world, according to the report.

A standoff with Tencent, which is a dominant player in internet content in China, could add another conflict to those already faced by Apple, per the report.

It was reported in July that after winning a lawsuit in China, Apple asked the court to edit the ruling it handed down to eliminate its references to Apple having a “dominant position” and to the potential that the firm’s “unfair pricing may hurt consumers.”

That move was highly unusual and highlights the sensitivities of Apple’s position in the Chinese smartphone market, Bloomberg reported July 2.

Apple has faced challenges in other markets, too.

On July 11, the European Union (EU) said that Apple agreed to open its mobile wallet tech to rivals in order toavoid fines by EU regulators.

Also in July, it was reported that India’s antitrust watchdog said Apple abused its dominant place in the app store market, engaging in “abusive conduct and practices.”