Facebook wants to copy WeChat Pay with Facebook Coin payments

Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by CNBC on Wednesday.

A Facebook representative did not respond to CNBC's inquiries as to whether it is attempting to replicate WeChat, and instead noted that the company did not have "something more important to share" if there is wider payment efforts. "

" Like many Other companies are investigating Facebook ways to harness the power of blockchain technology. "This new layer explores many different applications," said Facebook spokesman.

In 2018, the research firm eMarketer said that more than 45 percent of China's population is expected to have spent mobile payments, compared to just over 20 percent in the US. Chinese consumers have largely skipped credit cards and have adopted WeChat salaries and rival Alipay, owned by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial.

WeChat not only offers payments but also has other financial services such as asset management and micro loans. Facebook's payments cannot be as ambitious.

"The potential revenue generation for Facebook Coin may not be as different as WeChat Pay," Choi Chun, senior analyst at the Chinese market research company iResearch, told CNBC.

"Much of WeChat's wage revenue is generated from commission dollars from online shopping within WeChat and wealth management services, which I don't think Facebook could tap into when the online store sector and welfare sector are already mature in the US," Chun added.