China’s central bank fines four companies 100 million yuan for violating payment service rules

The People’s Bank of China has slapped penalties on four payment service platforms for breaching service regulations, in a move to step up regulatory oversight of the country’s multi-trillion-dollar mobile payment market.

The four companies were fined a combined 100 million yuan (US$14.65 million) by the Shanghai branch of the Chinese central bank, according to a statement.

Alipay, the payment service operated by Alibaba Group Holdings’ Ant Financial Services unit, was fined 4.12 million yuan, while three other service providers paid the balance of the penalty. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The statement did not give details on what specific rules Alipay had violated. The amount of the fine levied on Alipay was the smallest among the four.

Alipay said that the fine was due to “certain irregularities” related to its payment services in the Chinese mainland.

“Alipay started to correct those irregularities immediately after they were identified and most of the corrective measures have already been completed and recognised by the regulators. Compliance is our top priority and we maintain robust compliance policy and procedures that cover all aspects of our businesses,” an Alipay spokesperson said.