The China Payment and Clearing Association (PCAC) has introduced two pivotal regulatory documents – the “Filing Management Standards for Acquirer Outsourcing Institutions” and the “Service Evaluation Management Standards” – to enhance self-discipline in payment outsourcing services. These frameworks aim to standardize operations, mitigate risks, and protect market participants while fostering healthy development of payment services.
Comprehensive Regulatory Framework Takes Shape
Targeting third-party payment service providers that handle non-core acquiring functions like merchant acquisition, terminal deployment, and payment aggregation, the new standards build upon the 2020 filing mechanism established under People’s Bank of China guidance. The 2024 “Self-Regulation Measures for Acquirer Outsourcing Services” serves as the foundational document, with these latest specifications providing operational details for implementation.
Mandatory Pre-Service Filing Requirements
The Filing Standards establish clear principles:
- Enforcing “file-before-operation” compliance
- Streamlining documentation processes
- Enhancing data reporting mechanisms
Outsourcing providers must select from five service categories for registration, with notable restrictions on manual transaction routing services. The standards particularly address data security concerns in payment aggregation, requiring:
- Clear data responsibility demarcation with licensed partners
- Compliant independent systems meeting national standards
- End-to-end encryption and access controls
Enhanced Risk Evaluation System
The Evaluation Standards introduce refined assessment metrics featuring:
- 30 explicitly defined risk behaviors categorized by severity
- Three-tier risk classification system
- Blacklist management criteria
Evaluation methodology now incorporates:
- Multi-dimensional scoring (subjective, objective, and self-regulation)
- Dynamic risk coefficient adjustments
- Performance-balanced rating distributions
Implementation Roadmap
PCAC outlined next-phase enforcement priorities:
- Comprehensive lifecycle management of outsourcing services
- Strengthened licensee accountability for partner oversight
- Industry-wide risk information sharing mechanisms
- Regular evaluation cycles to facilitate market optimization
The association emphasized these measures will accelerate the exit of non-compliant operators while promoting transparent, orderly development of China’s payment ecosystem.
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