Online pay gets more oversight

Central clearinghouse to avoid financial 'systematic risks'

The establishment of a centralized clearinghouse for online payments suggests that Beijing is tightening its supervision over third-party payments as part of efforts to uphold financial stability in the country.

Under a regulation released this week by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, third-party payment firms have to connect to the new platform by Oct 15 and channel all their payments through it by June 30. Presently, such firms are directly linked to banks for de facto interbank payment.