The Payment and Clearing Association of China is looking to establish an online clearing platform for non-banking payment institutions. That was the word Friday from officials with the People's Bank of China. The online platform will act as a unified portal between online payment services and banks.
Online payment services such as Tencent's Wechat wallet and Alibaba's Alipay are currently connected to different banks in a way that sometimes creates regulatory problems. Experts say an online clearing platform will make it easier for authorities to supervise capital flows.
"An online clearing platform can store and manage funds easily, and it saves costs for third party payment firms by cutting down bank fees," said Zhao Yao, researcher of IFB, CASS.