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Alipay doesn’t want to be a supporting role in the AI era
3 min read
Source: 36氪
Author | Wang Hanyu Editor | Zhang Fan The AI interface is brought up on the Alipay homepage, and dialog boxes replace the dense mini programs; the user says "Look for nearby milk tea coupons" to "A Bao", and the activities in the surrounding stores are automatically matched, and the verification is completed in one step. Recently, Alipay completed its largest revision in the 22 years since its launch. At the beginning of this month, the AI version of Alipay "Abao" officially launched full public testing. At almost the same time, WeChat Pay's "AI Exclusive Card" was also launched in the intelligent WorkBuddy. Since entering 2026, from leading platforms to various payment institutions, AI trump cards have been intensively displayed, and the competition among smart agents in the payment industry has quietly begun. From "just go" to "take the initiative to chat" With the progress of AI, payment APP has for the first time appeared non-tool user behavior. After the AI version started internal testing, Alipay related people told 36Kr that during this period, a phenomenon surprised the team: many users opened Abao not to do things, but simply to "walk" it - such as chatting, asking imaginary questions, testing various reactions, etc. "The sense of aliveness of 'A Bao' has increased users' interest in communication. Many people came to 'walk' A Bao, which surprised us. In the traditional version of Alipay, this is unlikely to happen." This is a landmark signal. In the past ten years, the core appeal of payment APPs has been "efficient, hassle-free, and instant use." The shorter the user's stay, the better the experience. Just like Alipay, in the past, as a payment tool that relied on specific scenarios, user stickiness was naturally limited. Especially in recent years, new tracks such as cost-effective e-commerce, content e-commerce, and local retail have continued to be diverted, and the traffic of traditional shelf e-commerce has been further cut off. Even if Alipay is at the top of the industry, Alipay needs to frequently increase user activity through red envelopes, preferential subsidies, and other means. AI is reversing this logic and bringing payment tools from behind the scenes to the front. In the past, to buy a cup of milk tea, users usually needed to open the takeout platform to place an order, and then actively choose Alipay to complete the payment. Payment is only the last step in the closed-loop transaction; now, by stating their needs in the "Abao" dialog box, product selection, coupon collection, ordering, and payment can be completed in one stop.