Closer Look: Clearinghouse needed to tame payment risk

(Beijing) - Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma once said he would deliver to the state his popular third-party payment service Alipay whenever it was needed. It seems that the time is coming, although what Alipay needs to hand over is only the part of the business that shouldn’t belong to it anyway.

Alipay and other online payment providers are facing a major reshuffle as the central bank is mulling building a new clearinghouse for all online transactions, part of the regulator’s efforts to tame internet financial risks.