BEIJING, China—China’s central bank has fined Alipay CNY$4.12 million (approximately USD$601,459) for violating payment service regulations.
China is currently increasing regulatory oversight of its mobile payment market, South China Morning Post reports. The Shanghai branch of the People’s Bank of China announced that Alipay and three other third-party payment services were levied a combined fine of more than CNY$100 million, a result of tightened supervision on the 270 licensed e-payment service providers.
The statement did not provide details on what rules Alipay had violated. The amount of the fine levied on Alipay was the smallest among the four. Among the others, Union Mobile Financial Technology was fined CNY$26.4 million and Gopay was fined CNY$46.4 million.
According to Alipay, 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 recognized 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.