Chinese New Year 2016: Billions of WeChat Red Packet payments expected to celebrate the occasion

Scores of WeChat users are expected to send Red Packet payments to celebrate the Chinese New Year. WeChat is the popular messaging platform in China that beats rivals such as WhatsApp. Tied with a social network and payment system, the WeChat handles about 60 million transactions every day.

WeChat has more than 650 million active users each month. While a majority of them are from China, it is also available in other markets including India, Latin America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and several regions in Southeast Asia. In comparison, WhatsApp has one billion active users.

Traditionally, elders gift children money filled in a red envelop to celebrate the Chinese New Year. But WeChat and other companies such as ZenBack, a startup firm introducing digital payment that allows users to make transaction via a virtual wallet, have changed tradition in recent years, reports the Telegraph.

Red Packets formerly called Lucky Money or Red Envelops are being used by tens of millions of users. In Spring Festival 2015 (February), WeChat delivered more than one billion Red Packets. Within a span of less than a year during the New Year (1 January 2016), WeChat users sent over 2.3 billion Red Packets.

WeChat launched the Lucky Money feature during the 2014 Chinese New Year. Irrespective of whether it is New Year, Valentine's Day or Mid-Autumn Festival or any other holiday, the Chinese have proactively adopted the WeChat Lucky Money, and this has eventually become a new trend.

About 16 million red envelopes containing money were sent and received on the eve of the 2014 Chinese New Year, while about one billion envelopes were exchanged during the 2015 New Year and 500 million envelops on children's day the same year. In addition to that a total of 1.4 billion envelops were sent and received on Chinese Valentine's Day, whereas more than 2.2 billion were sent during the Mid-Autumn festival. Here is how to send and receive a Red Packet.

How to send a Red Packet

• Red Packet can be sent within a chat in the same menu as sending photos
• Fill in the number of Red Packets you want to send within the group, how much money and also attach the occasion's greetings
• Payment is handled by WeChat Pay and authenticated via fingerprint or PIN code

Receive a Red Packet

• Once you receive a Red Packet within your WeChat, tap the chat bubble to open and see what's inside
• When sending Red Packets to a group, randomise the amount sent to different receivers

Tip: In Chinese "520" means I love you. Try sending a 5.20 RMB Red Packet to share your love with your dear ones.