Fergie's Tech Blog

People's Bank of China puts cap on Internet payments

Sumner Lemon writes in InfoWorld:

The People's Bank of China (PBC), which sets China's monetary policy and regulates some areas of the country's banking industry, has issued a set of guidelines that cap the amount that individuals can spend online at 1,000 renminbi ($123.53) per transaction, according to its Web site.

In addition, the newly issued guidelines, entitled "Guidelines for Electronic Payment (No.1)," restrict the amount that Chinese users can spend using electronic payments made via the Internet and mobile phones at 5,000 renminbi per day. The Chinese central bank said the new rules are intended to limit the possibility of fraud.

Not all online payments are affected by the new guidelines. Transactions that require the use of a digital signature and certificate to identify the buyer are exempted from the payment limits, according to the rules.

Online payments have just begun to gain serious traction in China, led by Alibaba.com's AliPay service, eBay's PayPal service, and Shanghai-based 99Bill.

posted by Fergie @ 11/01/2005 09:20:00 AM