From payment tools to social platforms, to today’s “life operating system” that integrates payment, social networking, health and other scenarios, every update of Alipay reflects its insight into user needs and thinking about the market pattern. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of the logic behind Alipay’s new features, explore its strategic layout in social networking, rejuvenation, health management and other fields, as well as the challenges and opportunities it faces in the super app competition.
Recently, Alipay has updated a seemingly painless feature: voice calls.
Click “+” in the chat box with friends in the messaging interface to find the voice call entrance. The familiar phone icon appears, and real-name authenticated users can make direct phone calls to each other, and the whole process is said to be “no voice change, no content storage, and enhanced privacy protection”.
At first glance, this sounds more like a security-based feature supplement, but in fact it somewhat reinforces social attributes.
In fact, this is not the first time Alipay has tried instant messaging, nor is it the first time it has been “involved in social networking”.
The launch of Alipay voice calls cannot simply be equated with fighting “WeChat”, but the signal behind it is very clear:
Ali still hasn’t given up looking for a sense of existence in the matter of “connecting people”. However, this time it is not to create another social app, but to try to allow users to naturally access the “conversation” ability in the original payment behavior.
In more layman’s terms: Alipay is not about making chat software, but about bringing the “relationship chain” back to the center of the payment scene.
Imagine if you share bills with family and friends, direct voice communication; If you have doubts about transferring money for your child, you can use a voice call to verify your identity; Even communicating after-sales issues with merchants in buying and selling transactions may no longer rely on third-party platforms or mobile phone numbers.
Alipay is trying to extend the form of “payment as connection” further. This is a functional update, but it is also a mental temptation.
After 10 years of interaction design, why did I transfer to product manager?
After the real job transfer, I found that many jobs were still beyond my imagination. The work of a product manager is indeed more complicated. Theoretically, the work of a product manager includes all aspects of the product, from market research, user research, data analysis…
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However, are current users still willing to “entrust” this relationship to Alipay?
“Small wallet” and “touch” Alipay’s “rejuvenation anxiety”
Voice calls are just one part of Alipay’s recent updates. If you pay attention to its version history, you will find that it has been optimized almost once a week for the past six months.
Not only does it have a visual renewal of the interface, but the background of the homepage has been changed to a lighter off-white; It has also launched “NFC touch” payment, “small wallet” shared bookkeeping, “fund valuation” quick check, and “HarmonyOS real-time parking” adaptation…… It is dense and delicate, covering almost the four core scenarios of payment, financial management, life and social networking.
But what really deserves attention are two features: “Little Wallet” and “Touch”.
“Small wallet” is a “relational bookkeeping tool” that Alipay focuses on. You can set up a shared account with your lovers, friends, roommates, and family members, record joint expenses in it, form visual consumption records, set budget reminders, and generate bill images to share.
Does it sound a bit “Little Red Book”? That’s right, it’s very similar to the model of “planting grass + posting bills”. Users are not just keeping accounts, but expressing lifestyle, emotional values, and relationship temperature through “bills”. Some people post couple ledgers, some post travel AA, and some post how many times they drink milk tea in a month – this is not a financial function, this is a content community.
In other words, “small wallet” is the first time Alipay has tried to socialize the billing scene. It tries to “talk” with young people at the functional level: it is not a ledger used by parents, but a “bill circle of friends” that can post life.
Similar is the “touch” payment. On the surface, this is a technical upgrade, and the payment can be completed with NFC touch, which is faster and more ceremonial than scanning the code. But it has the meaning of “changing payment from functional behavior to social action”.
How to understand? Paying with NFC is like WeChat “shaken” to make friends – although it is related to efficiency, the improvement of experience and scene immersion is more clear. Today, when young people are increasingly pursuing “fun and effortless”, this is Alipay’s test of “entertainment in payment scenarios”.
All these feature updates ultimately serve one purpose: to keep the attention of a new generation of users.
For this goal, Ali is also very willing to spend money, in the “small purse” purse circle, like or be rewarded, there may be cash rewards, even more exaggerated: sharing bills or content on the popular list, as well as official additional creative rewards, 50 or even 100 posts.
There are also “touch” discounts that can be seen everywhere now:
Because Alipay knows that it is no longer the “download and must-use” app. On mobile phones of young and middle-aged people, its position is no longer secure. Xiaohongshu undertakes grass planting, mini programs are convenient, WeChat undertakes social networking, and even Meituan is competing for payment. Alipay needs a starting point and needs to constantly tell young people: “I can also be cool, fun, and understand you very well.”
Behind the product upgrade, there is still a younger abacus.
AI doctor, HarmonyOS adaptation: Alipay doesn’t want to lose its entrance
In addition to new attempts at social networking and payment, another important direction of Alipay is the continuous layout of “AI + health”. Trying to occupy an entrance to traffic in advance in the AI era.
In the recent update, Alipay’s AI health module has ushered in an important upgrade: a new “weight loss area” has been added, integrating dietary advice, exercise plans, expert consultations from tertiary hospitals, and personalized advice from AI doctors…… This can almost be seen as a manifestation of Alipay’s push of “private health butler” to a deeper level.
Interestingly, Alipay’s ambitions for AI health do not exist in isolation. Since last year, Alipay has frequently used modules such as AI doctors, remote consultations, and health data records. Many people in the outside world may not have paid attention, but in scenarios such as chronic disease management, family health binding, vaccine reminders, and exercise step counting, it has actually quietly “built a hospital”.
Why do this? Because it tries to capture a new “national entrance”: health management, perhaps the next super scenario after payments.
The popularity of payment is close to the ceiling, the competition for social entrances has failed, and the content ecology is not as good as the headline system. What Alibaba can do is start from lifestyle – “When you pay with Alipay, you are also being cared about by me, suggesting diet, and matching experts.” “This is an extension based on trust and frequency, and it is a redistribution of the value of the platform.
But the question also arises: Alipay is indeed updated frequently and widely expanded, but is the user perception strong? Further, can its new functions support “retention” and “memory points”?
The reality is that many features are quickly forgotten by users after they are launched. Even many people reported that “there are too many functions and too complicated”, “I can’t find the entrance I want to use”, and “an app is too bloated”. This is a common problem of the platform and the fate of super apps.
Alipay is becoming more and more like a “functional skyscraper”, with each floor built with high sophistication, but residents often get lost. In this era of “a single point hit is more effective than the all-round king”, users do not need a platform that can do anything, but an application that “just understands my needs at the moment”.
AI doctors are powerful, but most users only remember it the moment they get sick; NFC “touch” is very convenient, but not all phones support it; Voice calls are good to use, but we also have WeChat. Each function is very logical, but lacks the explosive power of “hitting the core pain point”.
And this is the biggest dilemma that Alipay is facing today: constantly running and innovating, but it is becoming more and more difficult to create “just needed memory”.
It is no longer the “wallet” that naturally comes with traffic, and it is difficult to create the “relationship stickiness” of WeChat or the “content resonance” of Xiaohongshu overnight. It is now more like an old platform trying to retain every passenger, with better and better functions, faster and faster updates, but the anxiety of the rhythm is also getting stronger.
Alipay doesn’t want to get better, but wants to get better too much. And the background color of this “too much thought” is actually a deep uneasiness: today, when the super App pattern is reshuffled, it knows that its golden age has passed, and now every update is a “re-meeting” with users.
However, are users of this era willing to stop and take a closer look at it?
Written at the end: An Alipay that is not willing to be mediocre
From voice calls to “small wallets”, from AI doctors to NFC payments, from interface renewal to HarmonyOS adaptation, these things that Alipay has done recently seem unrelated at first glance, but in fact there is a dark line running throughout:
It is quietly building a “new era life operating system”.
This system starts from a simple payment tool and integrates social, health, content, bookkeeping, communication, and financial management, covering all aspects of life. It tries to accompany us every moment of eating, drinking, and sleeping, and also tries to catch the glimmer of our attention in every second.
Of course, it hasn’t worked out yet, and it’s even struggling. But this time, it is no longer in a hurry to “subvert anyone” in a high-profile manner, but makes a low-key effort to “leave one more person”.
Whether it’s a voice call, a small wallet, or AI health, it’s essentially Alipay’s simple question to this era:
Can I still keep you?
