PBOC reins in funds of payment platforms

Central bank's measures set to ensure safety of reserved customer finances

China's central bank became the new custodian of all customer funds deposited by third-party payment groups starting from Monday, tightening control of mobile payment transactions and clearing.

The central bank will pay no interest on the reserved money, the amount of which reached 1.24 trillion yuan ($183 billion) in November 2018. This marks the end of the era in which payment platforms invest customers' funds freely to earn interest returns, and the new policy could squeeze a large part of the profit of the payment groups, said analysts.