Recently, in order to ensure the implementation of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-bank Payment Institutions (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), the People's Bank of China has researched and drafted the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-bank Payment Institutions (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the "Detailed Rules") and solicited opinions from the public.
The payment industry plays a fundamental role in serving the needs of the real economy and people's livelihood, and accelerating the construction of laws and regulations in the payment field is an important part of promoting the governance system and governance capacity building of the payment industry. The promulgation of the "Regulations" further clarifies the rights, obligations and responsibilities of all parties in the payment industry, gives the regulatory authorities administrative powers in accordance with the law, effectively consolidates the legal foundation for the standardized and healthy development of the industry, and marks that the development of the payment industry has entered a new stage. The Detailed Rules further refine and clarify the relevant provisions of the Regulations, which will help urge all payment institutions to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations and protect the legitimate rights and interests of users.
Liu Gang, the founder of China Payment Industry Network, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that after the promulgation of the "Regulations", due to the great difference from the previous "No. 2 Order" (the "Measures for the Management of Payment Services of Non-financial Institutions" issued in 2010), all parties in the industry are waiting for the release of the "Detailed Rules". Of course, there are also some suspense, such as the systemically important non-bank payment institutions mentioned in the "Regulations" do not appear in the detailed rules, and there will be other management measures.
Refine the business classification criteria
Previously, payment institutions were divided into three categories: online payment, bank card acquiring and prepaid card business. The "Regulations" readjust the type of business and divide it into stored value account operation business and payment transaction processing business. However, the specific classification of these two types of services and the correspondence between the old and new payment services are not clear.
Therefore, it is necessary to formulate the Detailed Rules to clarify the arrangements for the transition period and the connection between the old and new payment businesses, so as to promote the smooth transition of the non-bank payment market. In the provisions of the Detailed Rules on the classification of business types, the operation of stored value accounts is divided into Class I and Class II of stored value account operation, and the processing of payment transactions is divided into Type I of payment transaction processing and Type II of payment transaction processing.
Among them, the stored value account operation category I covers the original Internet payment, or the simultaneous Internet payment and mobile phone payment (fixed telephone payment, digital TV payment), and the stored value account operation class II includes the original prepaid card issuance and acceptance, and the prepaid card acceptance is classified. In addition, bank card acquiring is classified as payment transaction processing category I., and payment transaction processing category II is classified if it only carries out mobile phone payment, fixed telephone payment and digital TV payment, and does not carry out Internet payment.
Wang Sheng, head of the Payment and Settlement Department of the Central Bank, said that the "Regulations" reclassify the payment business from the dimensions of funds and information. Under the new classification method, regardless of the impact of new payment channels and payment methods, regardless of the external form of payment business, it can be classified and managed according to the essence of the business, so as to better meet the needs of payment business development and implement "functional supervision".
After the business type is readjusted, the business type registered in the payment business license of the payment institution will also be adjusted accordingly. It is understood that from the date of implementation of the "Regulations", all kinds of payment business rules will temporarily follow the original prepaid card, online payment, barcode payment, bank card acquiring and other system provisions. The relevant provisions of the current system documents of the central bank involving the types of payment business of non-bank payment institutions shall be implemented after adjustment in accordance with the corresponding relationship stipulated in the Detailed Rules.
Wang Pengbo, chief analyst of the financial industry of Broadcom Consulting, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that the business types that have been concerned by the industry have been clearly divided, and the original business license classification has been classified into the new classification. It not only ensures the smooth transition of the original business and license, but also reformulates more direct and detailed regulatory provisions according to the characteristics of each institution's business and license, so as to ensure the penetration and comprehensiveness of supervision.
With regard to the convergence of new and old business licenses, the PBOC adheres to the principle of "smooth transition" and includes established payment institutions in the new classification method for management. On the one hand, it not only takes into account the licensing framework under the current classification method, but realizes a smooth transition between the old and new classifications, without expanding the original business and geographical scope, and has less impact on the market, and on the other hand, it ensures the scalability of the new classification method and avoids the iterative changes of payment channels and payment tools in the future, which will lead to frequent amendments to the regulations due to the adjustment of payment business classification.
Clarify the arrangements for the transition period
It is worth mentioning that the Regulations are basically consistent with the regulatory practice in recent years, and a certain transition period is set up, which is conducive to the familiarization of payment institutions with the relevant legal provisions. In the view of an industry observer, "basically there is not much impact, and it can be regarded as a smooth transition, which is also repeatedly reiterated by the central bank." ”
Specifically, the established non-bank payment institutions shall meet the requirements of the Regulations and the Detailed Rules on the conditions for the establishment of non-bank payment institutions and the ratio of net assets to the average daily balance of reserves before the end of the transition period, and the transition period shall be from the effective date of the Detailed Rules to the end of the validity period of its payment business license, and if the transition period is less than 12 months, it shall be counted as 12 months. If the provisions are not met at the end of the transition period, the payment business shall be terminated.
"On the whole, on the basis of making up for the regulatory gap, continuing to build compliance, and forming a fairer institutional environment, it can be seen that the attitude of the competent authorities to maintain the stable development of the payment industry has not changed. Wang Pengbo pointed out that the "Detailed Rules" further clarify the important concepts and connotations in the "Regulations", which is of great significance to further ensure the effective implementation of the "Regulations" and promote the smooth transition of new and old businesses.
For example, it clarifies that the scope of major shareholders is expanded to shareholders who have a significant impact on the operation and management of non-bank payment institutions despite the amount of capital contributed or the proportion of shares held by less than 10%, so as to make up for the gaps that may have existed before, and other prudential conditions for the establishment of non-bank payment institutions include that the established non-bank payment institutions should also meet the conditions such as good business conditions, no record of major violations of laws and regulations during the validity period of the payment business license, and no failure to carry out payment business for more than two consecutive years without justifiable reasons. "This interpretation will affect payment institutions that have not carried out payment business and only want to sell licenses, and may also affect the renewal of licenses of institutions that have already been licensed. Wang Pengbo said.
In addition, the Detailed Rules set out detailed requirements for registered capital. The minimum registered capital of a non-bank payment institution shall be RMB 100 million, which shall be refined according to the type of business and geographical scope, and the registered capital shall be increased in accordance with the corresponding rules. This may lead to the withdrawal or consolidation of some non-bank payment institutions.
"But registered capital may only be one of the incentives. Liu Gang told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that there were active withdrawals before, more of which was due to the lack of competitiveness of enterprises and products, and supervision has been strengthened, resulting in the maintenance cost and difficulty of enterprises, and small institutions without a foundation can only seek to exit.
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