The transition to offering financial services isn't a straightforward one, given tough competition in the US banking market, intense regulatory scrutiny and a high level of "stickiness" among finance customers, said Jeff Tijssen, global head of fintech at consulting firm Bain & Co.
Hershie : One has to undserstand the fundamental forces behind WeChat that created such a uniquely positioned app. Simplistically China was not "open" or democratic in its way which basically steered the direction toward a central place for access to things (super app) .
Outside these confines less restrictions spur on a different way of engagement, and freedom of choice is expansive by comparison. Simply put the feedom of choice will prevent the success of a super app by comparison, it has no chance.
D Blaine : Betting against Musk, for years, has been a losing proposition. Nearly all ‘experts’ said Tesla had ZERO chance when it was started. SpaceX, same. But now, the ‘experts’ are correct?
Hershie D Blaine : At some point in my career whilst still working in Marketing/advertising there was a deep dive executed into WeChat to understand it better whilst seeking a possible solution for one of our global client briefs. What I recall being uncovered was not about a stroke of genius at all but more about circumstances around internet access, security and control.
I am in fact a proud Safrican and a staunch believer in Musks visions, not betting against him at all. He is but one man. When you do your research it is hard to ignore that most of his later successful achievements revolve around transportation (Tesla, Bore CO., SpaceX) and the organic spin off’s like battery dev, storage facilities, solar panels and even AI & robotics. One could even argue his startup in the finance industry was also about transportation, albeit financial (P2P) ; ). But when it comes to Twitter I believe his ego got in his way (I’m sure it’ll be profitable one day and may even become the super app he envisions) but super app X is simply not his core genius or worthy of his time (sorry @ElonMusk).
In my humble opinion the super Apps will belong to Apple, Microsoft, Google and maybe a few others as they have already spent the last 20yrs building up their eco systems, organic expansion is low hanging super app fruit.
Only fools could not see the electric outcome.
Peace out : )