World's most used app WeChat is squandering lead by not going global

WeChat is leaving money on the table.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s strategy for expanding WeChat Pay globally is pretty straightforward: Follow the (tourism) money.

Grace Yin, operations director of WeChat Pay’s international business, summarized Tencent’s approach at the RISE Conference earlier this month in Hong Kong:

• If a place has a Chinese tourist, then this place is our target.
• It’s a smart strategy. Simple, elegant and actionable with WeChat Pay now accepted in 25 countries.

But it’s also decidedly unambitious. The focus in those 25 nations is solely on the merchant side of the equation — to accept money from Chinese travelers.

“We don’t have a plan in the