"Recently, Northwestern University announced that 'starting from July 1st, Tencent's WeChat Pay will implement fine-grained management for campus users. Except for tuition fees, all other charges will be restricted and a 0.6% handling fee will be charged. In order to protect the interests of teachers and students, starting from June 30th, WeChat QR code payment services will be temporarily suspended for campus card users. Campus cards, Bank of Communications app, UnionPay, Alipay, and other channels can still be used as usual. Please be informed.' Similar announcements have also been made by Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu Normal University, Henan Normal University, Hangzhou Normal University, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Shanxi Normal University, Shanxi Vocational University of Science and Technology, and more than 10 other universities."
When I saw this news, I didn't feel surprised. This is something that was bound to happen sooner or later, just like how CNKI has been dominant for many years but faced resistance from major universities due to high service fees and copyright issues. WeChat wants to create a closed ecosystem, and its ultimate goal is to accumulate a large number of users for profit. It is only natural for businesses to seek profit, and it is understandable. However, using closed and even monopolistic behavior to generate profits is another matter.
After multiple universities issued announcements, Tencent responded by stating, "Since 2015, WeChat Pay has entered campuses and has long provided preferential policies of zero fees for non-profit payment scenarios within campuses (tuition fees, living services, etc.), continuously investing in bank channel fees and other costs. For non-profit payment scenarios within campuses (tuition fees, living services, etc.), we will continue to maintain the policy of zero fees. Recently, WeChat Pay has initiated merchant communication for fine-grained management of fees in the campus industry. After collecting opinions and feedback, we plan to continue providing services for a small number of profit-making scenarios such as e-commerce and travel at a lower than market average level of preferential fees."
Although Tencent argues that many service scenarios are free, according to Northwestern University's announcement, everything except tuition fees is charged.
Furthermore, the 0.6% fee and the scope of charged services are unilaterally decided by Tencent without sufficient communication with universities. It is like an arrogant dictator announcing to his people that all roads built by him will be toll roads next year.
According to IT Home's news, WeChat Pay's preferential fees for profit-making scenarios are mostly between 0.2% and 0.38%. With a 0.6% fee, Tencent already has a high profit margin. It is worth noting that the stamp duty for stock trading is only 0.1% of the transaction amount.
From the perspective of assets and transaction volume, Tencent has accumulated a massive number of users, funds, and transaction volume through these universities. These contents can bring significant hidden profits to Tencent. Those who have worked in telecommunications operators and banks know that in order to obtain these resources, they have to sponsor schools, provide low-interest loans to schools, and deploy campus Wi-Fi for free every year. In return, they can gain users and transaction volume. In contrast, Tencent, with such a huge amount of resources and profits, wants to charge universities again, which has caused backlash from various universities, which is not surprising.
However, it is worth mentioning that not all of these benefits necessarily go to WeChat Pay. For example, the stickiness brought by a large number of users can benefit other departments such as the gaming department. Under the pressure of KPI and performance evaluations, it is necessary to quickly profit and monetize the resources at hand to demonstrate the value of the entire department to the leadership. This charging behavior seems to have become a logical thing. The evaluation, distribution, and assessment of the value of these hidden benefits have troubled business managers for decades and cannot be solved overnight. It is beyond my personal understanding, so I won't speculate on it.
Personally, I think it would be better for Tencent to negotiate with major universities to determine the scope of charges and the amount of handling fees based on the scale of school construction and the number of teachers and students. I also hope that Tencent can set aside its arrogance and develop policies and features from the perspective of users. This is the image that a world-class company should have."