Following the announcement of the renewal results of the third batch of non bank payment institutions’ payment licenses at the end of last year, the central bank recently updated the cancellation list of payment licenses.
There are four license cancellation institutions, namely Hebei all-in-one card electronic payment service Co., Ltd., Shanghai convenience Jiangsu Lettall Electronic Co.Ltd(603629) commerce Co., Ltd., Jinjiang International Commerce Co., Ltd. and Shanghai shenchengtong commerce Co., Ltd.
The reporter of “daily economic news” noted that these four institutions hold prepaid card issuance and acceptance licenses, and their business scope is a single province and city.
47 payment licenses have been cancelled
According to the official website of the central bank, the payment licenses of Hebei all in one card electronic payment service Co., Ltd., Shanghai Bian Jiangsu Lettall Electronic Co.Ltd(603629) commerce Co., Ltd., Jinjiang International Commerce Co., Ltd. and Shanghai shenchengtong commerce Co., Ltd. have been cancelled, and the cancellation date is December 22, 2021. So far, 47 payment licenses have been cancelled, and 224 third-party payment licenses remain.
It is worth noting that the above four payment licenses expired on December 21, 2021, and none of the four Payment institutions submitted an application for renewal in the last examination for renewal of payment licenses.
On December 21, 2021, the payment business license held by 51 Payment institutions expired. Previously, 46 Payment institutions applied to the people’s Bank of China for renewal. The people’s Bank of China examined the relevant applications in accordance with the law and decided to renew 40 Payment institutions and suspend the examination of 6 Payment institutions. Five Payment institutions failed to submit renewal applications and will withdraw from the payment market in an orderly manner.
The four payment licenses cancelled this time are among the five. The other one that has not submitted an application for renewal is Xiamen Yitong card operation Co., Ltd., but the company has voluntarily cancelled the payment license before the renewal date.
prepaid card license is no longer popular
The reporter of “daily economic news” noted that the cancelled licenses are prepaid card issuance and acceptance licenses, and the business scope is also a single province and city.
Su Xiaorui, a senior analyst at Analysys, told reporters that due to the limited scope of the exhibition industry and the accelerated digital transformation of the industry, the original offline prepaid card business institutions stood at the intersection of transformation. Institutions that could not keep up with the changes of the times or could only choose to withdraw voluntarily.
Wang Pengbo, a senior analyst in the financial industry of Broadcom analysis, said in an interview that many prepaid card institutions were impacted by mobile payment, their business development was not smooth and fell into a profit dilemma. At the same time, due to the external environment, such as the reform of relevant tax policies, the business promotion process of prepaid cards has been affected.
the cancellation of prepaid card license has occurred one after another. What is the prospect of the industry?
Su Xiaorui said that the value of prepaid card license lies in the continuous market demand for prepaid business, especially in the field of retail consumption, such as beauty salon, education and training, chain fitness and so on. Due to the frequent occurrence of prepaid card consumption risks, the supervision of prepaid cards has been tightened in many places. Judging from the current trend, more institutions will choose to cancel the prepaid card license in the future, but it does not rule out the change of the general environment, such as the severe crackdown on the illegal issuance of prepaid cards or similar edge ball products, or the exploration of new business models for prepaid cards. At that time, the value of prepaid cards will rise.
Wang Pengbo believes that with the evolution of the payment market, prepaid card licenses are not as popular as before, and the prepaid card industry has also ushered in a polarization pattern. Successful digital transformation and institutions holding prepaid card payment licenses in key cities or across the country may have better development opportunities.
