China's central bank has issued new regulations for the multitrillion-dollar payment sector in a bid to improve risk control and stamp out crimes like cross-border gambling that illegally uses payment bar codes to transfer funds.
If strictly enforced, the rules are expected to significantly impact the entire payment industry, especially key players Alipay and WeChat Pay, a senior executive of a payment company told Caixin. The two platforms -- separately run by tech giants Ant Group and Tencent Holdings -- collectively held more than 90% of the nonbank mobile payment market last year, according to internet consultancy iResearch.
