Alipay, the payment app owned by fintech giant Ant Group, has launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered feature that generates information from images uploaded by users, in the latest move to ensure its position as a "super app" for China's internet users.

The "Tanyixia" function, which means "do a little search", allows users to scan or upload a picture to obtain information about topics such as plants, animals, food and even cartoon characters, or translate a menu or drug instructions, offering new reasons for its one billion users to keeping using the app.

The new feature, announced on Monday, had been accessed by more than 20,000 people as of Tuesday morning, Alipay data showed. Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.

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Alipay, which was created 20 years ago as a payment service for Alibaba's Taobao online marketplaces, has grown into one of the most commonly used apps for Chinese consumers and is considered a lifestyle platform by many.

Passengers can use Alipay for trips on Hong Kong's Star Ferry. Photo: Jelly Tse alt=Passengers can use Alipay for trips on Hong Kong's Star Ferry. Photo: Jelly Tse>

Alipay's move shows how mobile payment platforms are striving to grow their customer base and engender user loyalty in the AI era.

Alipay and WeChat, the all-purpose app owned by Tencent Holdings, are considered the two dominant digital wallets in China, accounting for a combined market share of more than 90 per cent, each with their own strengths. Alipay accounts for more of the market when it comes to total transaction value, but WeChat is ahead in transaction volumes as it is widely used by shop owners and street vendors.

In January, Tencent CEO Pony Ma Huateng reportedly told employees to reduce the company's market share in mobile payments so as not to compete with banks and upset regulators.

Alibaba and Tencent were forced to open their previously closed ecosystems to each other under Beijing's antitrust campaign, which targeted online platform operators. In August, China's market regulator ended its anti-monopolistic review of Alibaba after fining the e-commerce giant US$2.8 billion three years earlier.

In September, Alibaba announced that its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces would soon accept WeChat as a payment option, along with Alipay. As of early October, Tencent had enabled WeChat users to open Taobao links and place orders within the messaging app.