中国要求所有移动支付实行中央清算

China’s central bank has ordered online payment groups to operate through a centralised clearing house, a move likely to undercut the dominance of Ant Financial and Tencent by forcing them to share valuable transaction data with competitors. China is the world leader in mobile payments, with transaction volumes rising nearly fivefold last year to Rmb59tn ($8.8tn), according to iResearch. They are widely used for everything from high-street shopping to ride hailing.

中国央行下令在线支付集团通过一个中央清算所操作，此举很可能削弱蚂蚁金服(Ant Financial)和腾讯(Tencent)的主导地位，因为它们将被迫与竞争对手分享有价值的交易数据。中国是移动支付领域的世界领先者;艾瑞咨询(iResearch)的数据显示，去年移动支付交易总额增加近四倍，达到59万亿元人民币(合8.8万亿美元)。从商业街购物到叫车服务，移动支付得到广泛使用。

In addition to generating fees directly, online and mobile payments are a source of valuable data that can be used for targeted advertising, credit scoring, and other purposes.

除了直接为支付机构带来收入外，在线和移动支付还是宝贵的数据来源，可用于定向广告、信用评分和其他目的。

Now the People’s Bank of China is requiring all third-party payment companies to channel payments through a new clearing house by next June, according to a document sent to payment companies on August 4 and seen by the Financial Times. “The launch of this clearing house is a one-sided loss for the payment institutions. Originally, payment data were proprietary information for them. Now it’s connected to the clearing house, which will probably share it with other partners,” said Zhang Yi, a fintech analyst at iResearch.

根据8月4日下发给支付公司、英国《金融时报》看到的一份文件，现在中国人民银行(PBoC)要求所有第三方支付公司最迟在明年6月通过一家新的清算所处理支付。“这个清算所的推出是支付机构的单方面损失。支付数据本来是他们的专有信息。在与清算所对接后，这些数据很可能要与其他合作伙伴分享，”艾瑞咨询的金融科技分析师张毅表示。

Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Alibaba Group, is the market leader in mobile payments, with its Alipay unit processing 54 per cent share of all transactions in the first quarter of the year, according to iResearch.

据艾瑞咨询介绍，阿里巴巴集团的金融服务关联公司蚂蚁金服是移动支付市场的领导者，其支付宝(Alipay)在今年第一季度处理了全国54%的移动支付交易。

WeChat pay, linked to Tencent’s mobile messaging app, held a 40 per cent share. Mr Zhang believes the central bank wants to aid commercial banks in obtaining customer data and prevent Alipay and Tencent from gaining excessive market power.

腾讯的移动消息应用微信(WeChat)内置的微信支付(WeChat Pay)占有40%的份额。张毅认为，中国央行希望协助各商业银行获取客户数据，防止支付宝和腾讯获得过大市场能量。

Hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers and businesses have linked their Alipay or WeChat Pay accounts to their commercial bank accounts, enabling third-party payments to be credited and debited seamlessly.

数以亿计的中国消费者和企业将其支付宝或微信支付账户与商业银行账户相关联，使第三方支付能够无缝入账和扣款。

But, unlike swiping a bank card, when an Alipay or WeChat user makes a purchase, banks do not obtain crucial payment details such as the merchant’s name. Instead, the bank record shows Alipay or WeChat as the recipient.

但是，与刷银行卡不同，当支付宝或微信用户进行购买时，银行不会获得关键的支付细节，例如商家名称。相反，银行记录仅显示支付宝或微信为收款人。

Payment groups maintain separate bilateral relationships with commercial banks to facilitate payments to or from user bank accounts.

支付集团与商业银行保持单独的双向关系，以便向用户的银行账户支付，或从其扣款。

But the latest PBoC instructions require all payment companies to connect to the clearinghouse by October 15 and to channel all payments through it by June 30, according to the document.

但根据上述文件，央行的最新指令要求所有支付公司在10月15日之前连接到清算所，并在明年6月30日之前通过该清算所处理所有支付。

The PBoC and Tencent did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

中国人民银行和腾讯昨日没有回复记者的置评请求。