PingPong, a cross-border payment company, indirectly obtained a domestic payment license. According to Tianyancha, Hangzhou Ping Pong Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. recently became a 100% majority shareholder of Shanghai Yiqian Network Information Technology Co., Ltd., which holds 51% of the shares of Zhejiang Aerospace Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd., a licensed third-party payment agency.
Zhejiang Aerospace Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd. obtained the payment business license in 2012. The business types include prepaid card issuance and acceptance (Zhejiang Province) and Internet payment (nationwide). The current license is valid until 2022.
According to the regulations formulated by the People's Bank of China《Administrative Measures for Payment Services of Non financial Institutions》The non-financial institution shall obtain the Payment Business License in accordance with the provisions to provide payment services. According to the public information, there are 229 licensed payment institutions on the market, and 42 have cancelled their licenses. The Central Bank has suspended the issuance of payment licenses. Therefore, companies targeting payment businesses have indirectly obtained the only payment licenses on the market by acquiring licensed institutions. For example, Huawei and Station B have obtained licenses in this way this year. With the help of payment licenses, Internet giants are expected to further layout the payment field and extend their own ecology.
For cross-border payment enterprises, the license plate is a sign of further compliance. According to regulatory requirements, institutions with payment license and business content including Internet payment can register in the directory of foreign exchange income and expenditure enterprises for trade, and then start cross-border foreign exchange payment business.
At present, many cross-border payment enterprises in the industry do not hold domestic payment licenses, but conduct business through cooperation with licensed institutions. For example, Xtransfer,Display on official websiteAt present, it holds payment licenses in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. "XTransfer overseas exhibition entities are responsible for overseas collection, and cooperative domestic licensed third-party payment institutions collect and settle foreign exchange in the cross-border link of funds". Payoneer, which has been listed in the United States, and Airwallex, which completed financing of $200 million in September, have also been reported to apply for a license in China. As of now, no further information has been released.
According to the information on PingPong's official website, in 2019, PingPong became a unicorn with a valuation of more than US $1 billion. In 2020, its trading scale exceeded 100 billion yuan, and it has licenses in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong and Hong Kong. However, when the news of PingPong's planned listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's GEM came out, it was still criticized by the media because of its unlicensed issue. According to the guidance progress report published on the website of Zhejiang Securities Regulatory Commission, PingPong is currently in the stage of listing guidance, and the fifth phase of listing guidance has been completed in October.
Another payment company that has carried out cross-border payment business and hit the market has successively held a domestic payment license, which has been renewed this year. However, according to the public information of the website, its domestic payment business has been involved in several lawsuits. While the industry relies on low rates to fight the price war, compliance is also the focus of the market.
A person in the cross-border payment industry said that the supervision will become stricter as the market matures, and the license is one of the links. While the licensed enterprises are more compliant, they also reduce costs relatively. However, from the perspective of differentiated competition in the industry, it is equally important to improve product and service capabilities.
Article | Shi Yi
Editor | Zhao Xiaochun
Fig. | Unsplash
