WeChat app to serve the same purpose as ID cards in China

Almaty. December 27. Silkroadnews - WeChat app will serve the same purpose as ID cards in China, the New Zealand Herald reports.
“WeChat, the popular mobile application from Tencent Holdings, is set to become more indispensable in the daily lives of many Chinese consumers under a project that turns it into an official electronic personal identification system. The government of Guangzhou, capital of the southern coastal province of Guangdong, started a pilot programme that creates a virtual ID card, which serves the same purpose as the traditional state-issued ID cards, through the WeChat accounts of registered users,” the report said.
It is noted that the project will soon cover the entire province, and from January next year will be implemented throughout the country.
The WeChat identification program was jointly developed by the Ministry of Public Security and Tencent’s WeChat team and is supported by various banks and several other government departments.
The project is expected to prevent the theft of personal information on the Internet, as facial recognition technology is used to verify applicants before their virtual ID cards get authorized.
WeChat will be used for registration in hotels and for public services without the need to bring a traditional identity card.
Earlier China undertook attempts to develop electronic ID cards using a smartphone app. “In June 2016, the branch of the Public Security Bureau in the city of Wuhan, capital of the central Chinese province of Hubei, teamed up with Alipay to launch an electronic ID card service,” the report reads.
The success of the current program will mark one of the most significant stages for WeChat after Tencent launched the WeChat messenger in 2011 and it turned into the country’s largest social network, as well as a popular online platform for payments and money transfers.
As of September 30, 2017, WeChat has 980 million active users recorded.