Interpretation: Restoring the "original intention" for third-party payments

Recently, the central bank issued a notice soliciting opinions from the public on the "Management Measures for Non bank Payment Institutions' Network Payment Business". The various regulations on account opening, payment verification, and limit management for third-party payment services in the "Measures" immediately sparked heated discussions once they were announced. Whether the new regulations will affect the convenience of consumer online payment What challenges will emerging Internet financial forms such as third-party payment and P2P face? Whether the new regulations will hinder financial innovation and how to balance the relationship between promoting financial innovation and preventing financial risks Let third-party payments return to the origin of payment 2015 was the 12th year of development for non bank payment institutions, and it has been 4 years since the third-party payment license was issued in 2011. Statistics show that in 2014 alone, China's e-commerce transaction volume exceeded 16 trillion yuan, reaching 16.39 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.4%. "The rapid expansion of the scale of payment business requires new rules to regulate the development of new businesses, and it is imperative to clarify the functional orientation of third-party payment." Huang Zhen, director of the Institute of Financial Law of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that the draft of the Measures is the specific implementation of the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Internet Finance jointly issued by the former Central Bank and other ten ministries and commissions. The new regulations first regulate the funding process of third-party payments, "analyzed Zeng Gang, director of the Banking Research Office at the Institute of Finance, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Consumers often prepay money to virtual accounts of third-party payments for consumption, and as the amount of funds increases, a fund deposit is formed in the third-party payment account, which objectively gives third-party payments a function similar to bank deposits. The difference between the two is that bank deposits are regulated by the central bank and their security is guaranteed, while funds in virtual accounts are free from regulation and their security is not guaranteed. Therefore, the new regulations have imposed restrictions on the balance payment scale of third-party payments, reducing the amount of funds deposited. The central bank has responded to the previous misunderstanding that the maximum payment limit for third-party payment accounts is only 5000 yuan, stating that the 5000 yuan limit only applies to deductions from payment accounts and not to bank accounts. When making online shopping deductions, if the consumption amount exceeds 5000 yuan, after deducting 5000 yuan from the payment account, the excess amount will be paid from the bank card account. Some consumers question whether this will affect the online payment experience and even limit consumption. In fact, when using third-party payment, as long as the balance inside is not used for payment, there will be no restrictions, and the excess amount can be fully paid by the online banking linked to the payment account. The limit for online shopping consumption through third-party payment can meet the vast majority of consumption needs. The limit is to protect the financial security of ordinary users and will not affect normal consumption and payment behavior, "Zeng Gang pointed out. Regulatory gaps imply significant risks The new regulations have also standardized and sorted out interbank clearing and account management. At present, many people are used to transferring money through Alipay, but after the implementation of the new regulations, it will be difficult to realize the service of debit bank card transfer from payment account to others. At the same time, for payment accounts, the cumulative balance of all payment accounts for payment transactions shall not exceed RMB 200000 per year. Payment transactions exceeding the limit shall be processed through the customer's bank account. This means that free inter-bank transfer through Alipay and other payment platforms will no longer be possible. The clearing and settlement function is the most fundamental function of the financial system, which requires strict license management and access restrictions, which is the case in every country. Now that China's clearing market has been opened up, if third-party payments want to engage in clearing business, they can also apply for licenses. However, the hidden flow of third-party payment transactions outside of supervision will undoubtedly bring risks to the financial system, "said Zeng Gang. Another risk that cannot be ignored comes from account management. The implementation of weak real name system management in third-party payment accounts and the lack of face-to-face identity verification have resulted in a regulatory gap for large amounts of funds and transactions. This not only provides opportunities for illegal activities such as money laundering and terrorist financing, but also puts pressure and challenges on monetary policy and macroeconomic regulation. In Zeng Gang's view, it is necessary to return huge funds to the banking system for supervision through classified management, in order to avoid the formation of systemic risks. Looking at most other countries, the financial system implements strict license management. Banks are banks, and payment institutions are payment institutions. We must adhere to our main business and not cross boundaries. Payment institutions cannot engage in banking like, UnionPay like, or even securities like businesses. From this perspective, regulation is not meant to restrict, but rather to promote the better development of the third-party payment industry. Industry survival of the fittest or inevitable With the continuous improvement of the service level of banks, the efficiency of online banking is not inferior to that of third-party payment platforms. Huang Zhen believes that from an operational perspective, whether using third-party payment platforms or online banking for payment, for consumers who are accustomed to fast and convenient payment services, their payment experience is not compromised at all. As for the future development trend of the payment market, the research paper of CICC commented that under the new regulatory environment, the development direction of large payment institutions is to provide platform services, expand credit investigation, Internet credit and other businesses, and charge through value-added services; However, simple payment services have low profit margins, making it difficult for small institutions to survive. The industry is facing consolidation, and industry concentration will increase. "Internet finance has been growing savagely for many years, with more and more chaos, and more and more damage to consumers. It is urgent to clean up and regulate it." Zeng Gang stressed that regulation is a process of continuous dynamic adjustment, and today's restrictions may be loosened with the development of the industry in the future, which cannot be seen as a ban and suppression of innovation.