The biggest overhaul in two decades, can Abao support Alipay's AI ambitions?

"Abao" is here, and a new payment era has also arrived.

On June 16th, the AI version of Alipay was officially launched and named "Abao". In the AI version of Alipay, users can ask "Abao" to handle things through a dialogue. This is an upgrade of Alipay's experience from a "display - style" to a "dialogue - style", and it is also the most significant revision in Alipay's history.

What exactly has changed? Where is the AI ability manifested? "Node AI" summarizes it in one sentence: functions that previously required several levels of entrances to find can now be accessed with just one instruction to Abao, either by typing or voice.

For example, to query the housing provident fund, in the AI version of Alipay, users only need to say "I want to check my housing provident fund". Abao will automatically match the corresponding mini - program and the specific service entrance, and directly present the operation interface for housing provident fund query to the user. The user only needs to click to log in and confirm to complete the query. The original multi - step process has been condensed into one sentence.

This is the same logic as saying "Xiao X, help me open the window" to the voice assistant in a smart car, which is "dialogue is service". However, if the new version of the AI version of Alipay is fully popularized, the influence of such an app with over 1 billion cumulative users will far exceed that of other products.

It is reported that currently, tens of thousands of services on the Alipay platform have completed adaptation, covering scenarios such as government affairs, travel, and daily life, and the number of services is still increasing.

Abao's invitation codes are hard to come by

To let Abao handle things, the prerequisite is to have an invitation code for the AI version of Alipay.

The AI version of Alipay currently adopts a small - scale trial system with invitation codes. Initially, the official only released 100 invitation codes. However, the official tweet on Alipay's WeChat official account received over 100,000 views in a short time, and the 100 invitation codes were obviously snapped up in seconds.

The popularity of Abao and the scarcity of invitation codes have also given scalpers new business opportunities. On June 17th, Alipay officially issued an urgent statement: We have noticed that some online platforms are trading "AI version of Alipay beta invitation codes". Here, we would like to kindly remind everyone that Alipay has never authorized any third - party to conduct paid transactions of beta invitation codes. Abao's invitation codes do not need to be purchased, and can be obtained for free through sharing by activated users.

Meanwhile, Alipay also shared the steps for sharing the invitation code:

The prerequisite for getting an invitation code is to connect with users who have already experienced Abao. The first batch of users to experience Abao are those who grabbed the 100 official invitation codes. Some netizens said that Alipay is really good at this "hunger marketing + viral spread" strategy. In the official comment section of Alipay's official account on WeChat, some users also complained, "With hundreds of millions of users, you only give 100 codes. It's even more frustrating than not getting the 'Dedication Fortune'." Many users also called on Alipay to "issue more codes".

"Node AI" found on a second - hand trading platform that indeed many sellers are selling invitation codes for the AI version of Alipay. The prices on the first page range from $1.5 to $6.6.

Image source: Node AI

For users, asking Abao to check social security, housing provident fund, and pay utilities are the most basic needs. For Alipay, larger business lies in asset management and other aspects. Therefore, the security capabilities of the AI version of Alipay are also more concerned.

Alipay official said that all links involving fund changes and payments will be confirmed by the user himself. Abao is responsible for running through the process and presenting the window. The final decision of "pay" or "not pay" always lies with the user.

"Node AI" noticed that an independent "Assets" tab can be seen in the new version page released by the official. On this page, the fund details that were previously scattered in Yu'E Bao, Xiao He Bao and other places are all integrated together to form a unified and exclusive "personal ledger".

The AI - enabled phone hasn't arrived yet, but the AI version of Alipay is here first

"The ability of AI should be used by people in daily life. This is the original intention of the AI version of Alipay." Alipay explained.

The official said that this revision is for everyone, including elderly users who are not familiar with new technologies, users who are used to using voice, and everyone who has never contacted AI products.

Indeed, being able to complete previously complex operations with a single voice command is especially friendly to elderly users. In the view of "Node AI", this is also the starting point for AI to truly become a digital infrastructure for all.

However, the question arises: Why did Alipay choose this time point to launch the AI version?

"Node AI" analyzed that there are two reasons. First, AI can help Alipay carry out a slimming revolution; second, Alipay must race against its competitors to seize the AI entrance.

First of all, for Alipay, a super app with over 1 billion users, it has long expanded from a single QR - code payment tool to a national app with a vast amount of service content in local life, government services, financial services, etc. However, Ant Group once disclosed a set of data. The functions that the vast majority of users use frequently in daily life account for less than 10%, and more than 90% of the unpopular services have been in a dormant state for a long time.

The burden this brings to a super app is obvious. The entrances to niche services are deep and have many levels, resulting in a poor user experience. The app is getting heavier and heavier, but the opening rate is not proportional.

Therefore, the title of the revision announcement released by Alipay on June 16th called the new version the "Refreshing Version" instead of directly calling it the AI version. The reason lies here. With the help of AI capabilities, Alipay can access a vast amount of services in a more refreshing way.

Second, super platforms are all competing for the AI entrance. On the evening of June 16th, there were reports that WeChat Pay is testing an AI payment function and it will be launched as soon as this week. On June 17th, WeChat officially pushed the news of the "WeChat Pay AI Exclusive Card". Through the WeChat Pay AI Exclusive Card, users can put forward consumption needs in the dialogue with the Agent, and AI will handle everything from intelligent recommendation to placing an order and payment.

Currently, the WeChat Pay AI Exclusive Card is supported for use in WorkBuddy. For example, users can summon the "Meituan Life Assistant" on the "Experts" page, tell it what they want to eat and play, and use the WeChat Pay AI Exclusive Card to buy group - buying deals and redeem them at the store.

In addition to WeChat, platforms such as Douyin, JD.com, and Didi are also deploying corresponding AI capabilities to promote the transformation of mobile payment from the QR - code entrance to the AI entrance.

Finally

When ChatGPT is about to release an epic - level major revision and declares "ChatBot is dead", people's expectations for AI have gone beyond dialogue and chatting. The industry is also at a critical node to promote AI from the digital world to the physical world.

When industry giants are increasing their investment in AI capabilities, the competition logic of mobile payment will inevitably be rewritten. The era of competing in QR - code scanning efficiency and service subsidies is about to become history, and the AI era centered on dialogue interaction and intelligent services has officially begun.

When Ant Group took the lead in launching the AI version of Alipay, the battle for the AI entrance in mobile payment has officially begun. In the future, AI will not only be a chatbot in the digital world, but will become the entrance for major platforms to activate a vast amount of services, compete for users, and build an ecosystem. A long - term competition around "dialogue is service" in mobile payment has just begun.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Node AI View", author: Yang Xuejian. Republished by 36Kr with permission.