China opens its eWallet and goes shopping for regional influence

Australia’s political aviary of hawks and hardliners have been whistling up the reach and influence of TikTok recently, but there’s been far less scrutiny of the regional activities of its parent company, Byte Dance, in the Asia Pacific region and its quiet but steady push into the payments market.

As Australians fret over the skyrocketing cost of card transaction fees and surcharges, regional analysts are warily tracking strategic moves in the electronic payments market as what once were potentially global markets are now Balkanising and bifurcating along fault lines of sovereignty and sanctions.