Rumor: China Payment Association to Hold Inaugural Meeting in May
Southern Metropolitan News, 5/19/11
According to multiple industry sources, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) yesterday announced that the Chinese Payment and Clearings Association will hold its first meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 23, 2011. The PBoC will also hold its third-party payment license issuing ceremony during the meeting.
According to data from industry sources, the Chinese Payment and Clearings Association will be comprised of 89 members from banks (59.3% of total members), 25 members from finance companies (15.34%), 7 members from license approval authorities (4.27%), and 43 members from non-financial payment firms (26.2%).
In addition, the association will have 25 permanent council members who will come from the PBoC, 11 banks, and 8 payment processing platforms, including Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group's Alipay, Chinese internet firm Tencent's (0700.HK) Tenpay, 99Bill, YeePay, Shanghai-based International Payment Solutions (IPS) and China Payment and Remittance Service (ChinaPnR).
The PBoC has gradually revealed third-party payment applicant companies since last December, with the first batch growing from an initial list of 17 companies to 32. All 32 applicants are eligible to receive the first batch of third-party payment licenses.
According to the PBoC's "Administrative Regulations Pertaining to Payment Services Offered by Non-Financial Institutions," companies that have not received third-party payment licenses before the September 1, 2011 deadline will not be able to continue operating third-party payment platforms.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Rumor: PBoC to Issue Payment Licenses on May 23," MD 5/13/11 issue.
Keywords: e-payment ChinaPnR industry association e-commerce Internet license 99Bill Alipay Tenpay YeePay Tencent People's Bank of China IPS third-party payment 0700.HK Alibaba Group regulation