Previously, we first reported a
few months ago in Russian and English in our WeChat information program about
the ban on the use of WeChat and Alipay personal codes to collect money in
business activities from March 1, 2022, recently the Central Bank of China gave
some clarifications on this issue.
As we reported, on October 13, 2021, the "Notice of the People's
Bank of China on Strengthening the Management of Payment Terminals and Related
Enterprises (Yin Fa [2021] No. 259)" (hereinafter referred to as the Notice) was
published on the official website of the People's Bank of China, in According to
which, from March 1, 2022, the use of WeChat and Alipay personal codes to
collect money will be supervised and the use of personal codes to collect money
in business activities will be prohibited.
The tightening of supervision was explained by the head of the
relevant department of the Central Bank. In recent years, personal collection
codes have been widely used in China, which has improved the efficiency of
fundraising and payment, he said, but there are also some hidden risks. For
example, some criminals use personal static codes to raise funds and to remotely
transfer game funds online. Many foreigners in China use personal codes to
receive illegal payments without completing the necessary documents and business
registration.
"Notice" explains the management of receipt codes. Receipt codes
created by payees, such as individuals or specialty merchants, and used by the
payer to read and initiate payment instructions should effectively differentiate
between individuals and specialty merchants, the location and purpose of the
payment code, to prevent delivery in rent, sell or use the code for
illegal activities.
For individuals with obvious characteristics of a business, code
collection agencies should not provide them with business-related collection
services using personal collection codes.
Code collection agencies (WeChat and
Alipay) should take effective measures to prohibit the use of personal static
codes for non-personal payment collection. For personal dynamic collection codes
saved through screenshots, downloads, etc., reference should be made to the
relevant implementation provisions for personal static collection codes. “The
inclusion of code payment in oversight has closed loopholes in code payment
channels that could previously be used more for money laundering.”
The "Notice" requires individuals with obvious business
characteristics, code payment and collection agencies to provide them with
special sellers collection codes and refer to compliance with the relevant rules.
Operating activities refer to all transactions and events other
than corporate investment and fundraising activities. Commercial activities
mainly include the sale of goods, the provision of labor services, operating
leases, the purchase of goods, the acceptance of labor services, advertising,
promotion of products and the payment of taxes.
The relevant person in charge of the central bank said that the "Notice"
as a whole will help to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers, and help prevent criminals from stealing consumers' personal
information and even misappropriating account funds by modifying payment
terminals.
This contributes to the improvement of the quality of services such
as bank statements and requests for information about transactions of banks and
payment institutions, fully protecting the consumer's right to information and
reducing related disputes and complaints; in the long term, the relevant
requirements of the "Notification" on the regulation of personal collection
codes will be finalized.
It is not yet clear how WeChat and Alipay will put into practice
the requirements of the Central Bank - whether they will simply block the
accounts of violators or limit their functionality, but they will definitely not
neglect this requirement of the Central Bank, therefore, from March 1, 2022,
foreigners in China should refuse to accepting and transferring money through
WeChat and Alipay personal codes, unless they can document the non-commercial
nature of these transactions