China mulls tougher rules for nonbank payments; Ant, Alibaba's fintech and Tencent's Wechat to face pressure

A customer shows an Alipay payment confirmation to an employee at a beverage shop in Beijing. -Photo/Agencies

Beijing, Jan 22 (China Daily/ANN): China has tightened regulation on companies in the nonbank payment industry with an eye on curbing market monopoly behavior that could trigger financial risks, experts said on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, issued draft regulations on nonbank payment institutions for public opinion on Wednesday. Under the new rules, the PBOC can ask the anti-monopoly law enforcement agency under the State Council to ban any payment company which abuses its market monopoly position.