The People's Bank of China (“PBC”) Shanghai Head Office, all regional branches and operations offices of the PBC, and all central sub-branches in capital cities of provinces (autonomous regions) and in sub-provincial cities of the PBC; China Development Bank; all policy banks, state-owned commercial banks, and joint-stock commercial banks; Postal Savings Bank of China; China UnionPay Co., Ltd.; the City Commercial Banks Capital Settlement Center; the Rural Credit Banks Funds Clearing Center Co., Ltd.; and the Payment & Clearing Association of China:
For the purpose of comprehensively implementing a series of working arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council for accentuating and improving financial services in rural areas, the following Opinions are hereby offered on the work concerning further deepening the construction of the rural payment service environment:
I. Guiding Ideology
Under the guidance of the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the CPC and the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC, the fundamental role of the construction of the rural payment service environment in the development of inclusive finance and improvement of systems and mechanisms for urban-rural integrated development shall be maximized, and the scope of application in rural areas of achievements in construction of a modern payment system and the extent of inclusiveness shall be further enlarged, to enrich the payment services and payment products easily acceptable and obtainable by farmers, to improve the payment services in rural areas, to form a multilevel and sustainable rural payment service system with extensive coverage oriented to the financial demands of “agriculture, countryside, and farmers,” and to drive the inclusive financial growth and integrated development of urban-rural financial services.
II. Basic Principles
Orientation to demands and adjusting measures to local conditions: On the basis of realities and according to the level of economic and financial development and resource endowment of different rural areas, pragmatic policies, measures, and work targets shall be formulated, and safe and easy-to-use or easy-to-operate non-cash payment products meeting the demands of farmers shall be researched and launched.
Enrichment of payment service providers and encouragement of innovation: Respect shall be paid to the initiatives at the grassroots level, the various payment service providers shall be encouraged and directed to participate in construction of rural payment service markets and unleash their enthusiasm and creativity, and the features and advantages of the various business models shall be utilized, to promote the innovative development of payment services in rural areas.
Controllability of risks and implementing pilot programs: New payment services shall be launched steadily, and new payment functions shall be added. Experience gained in implementing pilot programs shall be carefully summarized, to promote the formation of business models that are replicable and widely applicable. Close attention shall be paid to payment service risks in rural areas, the risk awareness and risk prevention and control capacity of users in rural areas shall be strengthened, and on the basis of controllability of risks, new products and new functions of payment services shall be promoted in an orderly way.
Policy support and inclusive development: Not only shall the law of business be respected so that markets play a decisive role in the distribution of resources, but also policy support shall be proactively enlisted. The support from the financial, fiscal, tax, agriculture, commerce, telecommunication, and other relevant departments for construction of the rural payment service environment shall be coordinated and promoted, with an orientation to sustainable development of services.
III. Promoting the Development of Comprehensive Payment Services Beneficial to Farmers
1. Enrichment of service functions of rural bankcard service points aimed at facilitating withdrawals (hereinafter referred to as “service points”): The acquiring institutions may, according to their actual needs, add cash remittance, wire remittance, and bill payment services to service points. Cash remittance means that service points collect cash in small amounts from remitters and transfer the same amounts into bank accounts designated by remitters by deduction in bank accounts (including debit card accounts and passbook accounts) of service points. Wire transfer means that service points transfer the corresponding amounts into bank accounts designated by remitters by directly deducting funds from bank accounts of remitters, rather than collecting cash. Bill payment service means that payers make payments to water, electricity, gas, telecommunication, new rural cooperative medical care, new rural endowment insurance, and other particular billing institutions by means of cash remittance or wire transfer at service points. Cash remittance, wire transfer, and bill payment services represent different particular types of transactions, as set by the bankcard clearing houses on a unified basis. The setting shall be followed by both intra-bank and interbank transactions to ensure that transactions can be identified, measured, and controlled. Both acquiring institutions and clearing house shall, within six months of issuance of these Opinions, complete the relevant setting.
2. Appropriate adjustment of the cap requirements: For the rural withdrawal facilitation or cash remittance service of service points, the aggregate amount of money withdrawn or remitted per card per day may not exceed 2,000 yuan in principle. All banking institutions shall, in line with their respective risk prevention capacities, independently exercise cap control over wire transfer, but shall report such caps to the local branch offices of the PBC at or above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city for recordation. Service points shall maintain journals on their services of cash remittance to register the dates of cash remittance, remitter identity information, amounts, and other information item by item, which shall be affirmed with signatures (or fingerprints) of remitters or their agents and checked regularly. The PBC or branch offices of the PBC at or above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city may, in consideration of business development, risk control capacity, and other factors, make adjustment to the aforesaid caps.
3. Improvement of management of acquiring institutions: Acquiring institutions that have participated in the rural withdrawal facilitation service and plan to add the functions of cash remittance, wire transfer, and bill payment services shall choose service points in stable operation, with a strong risk prevention capacity and without the occurrence of any risk event to launch pilot programs and make steady promotion, but before adding the aforesaid functions, shall report to the local branch offices of the PBC at or above the level of a central sub-branch in a prefecture-level city for recordation. Acquiring institutions that plan to apply for participation in the rural withdrawal facilitation service and the pilot program of new payment services shall be governed mutatis mutandis by the Notice by the People's Bank of China of Promoting the Rural Bankcard Withdraw Facilitation Service (No. 177 [2011], PBC). The specific administrative requirements for acquiring institutions shall be determined by the branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city. Payment institutions that participate as acquiring institutions in the services of service points shall transfer the funds authorized by clients directly into the bank accounts designated by clients, and may not transfer the funds through payment accounts. The branch offices of the PBC at all levels shall closely follow and monitor the risks and developments of the newly added functions of payment services of service points, and summarize and report them in a timely manner.
4. Improvement of services and management of service points: Service points shall, in principle, be established in villages without banking institutions. Acquiring institutions shall proactively and steadily adopt measures to support service points in funding their launch of services; practically strengthen service points' cash management security protection measures and capacities; specify cash management security protection and other matters in agreements signed with service points; strive to bring service points under the monitoring networks of local public security authorities; and effectively prevent robbery, theft, fraud, fake money, and other events. Acquiring institutions shall constantly enhance the sense of responsibility and the awareness of risks of service points; specify the notification duties and obligations in cooperation agreements; strengthen standard operation training, operation maintenance and management, and regular circular inspection of service points; and establish access and exit mechanisms, incentive and restraint mechanisms, complaints processing mechanisms, and risk control rules of service points. Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city shall strengthen the management of standardization of the names of service points, and according to the service functions, guide acquiring institutions in hanging uniform signboards (e.g., rural payment facilitation service points). Service points in regions of ethnic minorities shall strive to provide bilingual operating instructions.
5. Rational establishment of service pricing and interest distribution mechanisms: Acquiring institutions shall publish service fee rates in conspicuous positions of the places of business of service points, and may not charge any fee for balance inquiries and the first withdrawal on a bankcard each month. Acquiring institutions shall adopt effective measures to appropriately compensate service points in terms of operation costs, to ensure their enthusiasm for the services. Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city shall, in conjunction with all relevant parties and in accordance with the principles of promoting sustainable development and providing appropriate preferences to farmers, establish fee rate mechanisms for payment services of service points under their respective jurisdictions, and report to the PBC in a timely manner the relevant fee rates and interest distribution models.
6. Practical enhancement of the use efficiency of payment facilities of service points: Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city shall, in conjunction with all relevant parties, actively advance the launch of interbank payment services of service points, and regard the work as an important factor in assessing establishment of new service points and new functions of payment services of service points, to ensure that the card issuing banks and the relevant acquiring institutions both support the out-of-network use of bankcards. By the end of June 2015, all the card issuing banks and relevant acquiring institutions shall have launched the interbank payment services of service points. Acquiring institutions shall, as needed, continue optimizing the distribution of service points. Convenient payment services shall be provided for farmers in villages that temporarily lack the basic conditions by strengthening the construction of service points in adjacent villages. Exploration for other functions of financial services that meet the demands of farmers and contribute to the sustainable development of service points shall be encouraged.
IV. Optimization of Featured Bankcard Services for Migrant Workers from Rural Areas
7. Adjustment of caps and service fee rates and enlargement of bankcard acceptance: The aggregate amount of withdrawals per card per day for featured services for migrant workers may not exceed 20,000 yuan. The fee rate shall be 0.5% of the amount of each withdrawal, with a minimum of one yuan and a maximum of 20 yuan, and the proportion of distribution of fees collected shall remain unchanged. China Postal Savings Bank, rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, and rural credit cooperatives (cooperative unions) shall continue increasing the number of outlets of featured bankcard services for migrant workers. Other financial institutions located in major source provinces of migrant workers with relatively complete service systems and relatively effective risk control measures shall be encouraged to actively participate in featured bankcard services for migrant workers.
V. Diversification of Payment Service Providers
8. Continued emphasis of the leading role of agriculture-related financial institutions and support of diversification of rural payment service market participants: Agriculture-related financial institutions including but not limited to Agricultural Bank of China, China Postal Savings Bank, rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, rural credit cooperatives (cooperative unions), and village banks shall carefully summarize the relevant experience gained in the financial support for the development of “agriculture, countryside, and farmers”; play to their strengths in terms of establishment of outlets, development of customer bases, and establishment of public awareness, among others; and continue to play a leading role in the construction of the rural payment service environment. Other financial institutions shall be encouraged to proactively meet the trend of urban-rural integration, fulfill their social responsibilities, participate in the construction of the rural payment service environment, and join forces to promote inclusive financial growth. Bankcard clearing houses shall redouble efforts in the innovation of agriculture-related bankcard payment products, and promote the application of bankcards in agriculture-related industries and online universal use of bankcards in rural areas. Payment institutions shall be supported, based on their own business characteristics, in developing payment products and services that meet the demands of rural areas and exploring business models that will contribute not only to serving the development of “agriculture, countryside, and farmers” but also to their own development. The various payment service providers shall be encouraged to cooperate with one another and jointly develop payment and clearing products and services beneficial to farmers. The Payment & Clearing Association of China shall maximize its role in self-regulation, rights protection, service, and coordination; guide its institutional members in actively participating in the construction of the rural payment service environment; strengthen rights protection of consumers in rural areas; and increase efforts for the relevant publicity and training.
VI. Continuous Promotion of Non-Cash Payment
9. Vigorous promotion of bank accounts and non-cash payment instruments: The penetration rate of bank accounts and the rate of active accounts shall both be improved, and availability of banking services in rural areas shall be enhanced. Bankcards oriented to “agriculture, countryside, and farmers” that bring actual convenience and benefits to farmers shall be actively issued. Coordination shall be extended for issuing various financial subsidies directly through bankcards. The service fields shall be widened, with a feature of “multipurpose bankcards.” The bankcard acceptance environment in rural areas shall continue to be improved. The launch of interbank use of payment terminals in rural areas shall be supported under the premise of controllability of risks, and by the end of June 2015, the interbank payment function of all wire transfer telephones shall have been launched. The promotion of self-help transfer using bankcards in rural areas shall be supported, and farmers shall be provided with safe and convenient remittance and transfer means. Card issuing banks may, based on business needs, enable self-help transfer service function for bankcard holders as a default setting, but shall set caps on transactions in light of the ratings of business risks of the different channels, and provide bankcard holders with the cap adjustment service. Bankcard clearing houses shall, in conjunction with bankcard issuing banks, determine the schemes for the launch of self-help interbank transfer service and the cap management, which shall be filed with the PBC. Commercial drafts and other services shall be proactively and steadily promoted in regions meeting the necessary conditions, to establish a chain of payment and clearing services for production, supply, and marketing as a whole package.
10. Positive development of mobile payment and other emerging forms of payment: The successful experience gained in pilot programs of mobile payment in rural areas shall be carefully summarized. For the characteristics such as swiftness, convenience, and self-help management of the mobile payment service, the unique advantages of mobile payment in promoting inclusiveness of finance in rural areas shall be underscored. Cooperation of mobile telecommunication operators with agriculture-related financial institutions, bankcard clearing houses, payment institutions, and other relevant parties shall be boosted. Popularization and application of mobile payment services in rural areas shall be promoted according to the local actual circumstances. Mobile payment products that are close to rural areas and farmers shall be researched and developed. The legal name-based management and the funds settlement management of merchants supporting mobile payments shall be strengthened, and identification of customers shall also be strengthened, to protect the security of mobile payment transactions and information. Development of online payment services in rural areas with a relatively mature environment of application shall be supported. Emerging electronic payment means meeting the demands of the development of agricultural material enterprises, large farms, and farm produce and byproducts suppliers shall be actively promoted. With close attention paid to the characteristics of demands of farmers, farm households, poverty-stricken people, and other relevant parties, emerging payment products with relatively low development costs but relatively easy operations and relatively good safety performance shall be researched and developed.
11. Constant extension of the coverage of payment and clearing networks: The coverage of the PBC's interbank payment and clearing system, rural credit banks payment and clearing system, and interbank bankcard transaction clearing system in rural areas shall be proactively and steadily enlarged. Banking institutions in rural areas shall be directed to further improve their internal payment and clearing networks, and new types of rural financial institutions shall be encouraged to engage in payment and clearing services by means of agency. Clear remittance channels for cross-border labor services shall be maintained, and the cost of cross-border remittance shall be lowered.
VII. Continued Improvement of the Policy Support System
12. Improvement of working mechanisms and enlisting of policy support: Long-acting mechanisms for the work of construction of the rural payment service environment, in which the government provides support, the PBC takes the lead, all relevant departments participate, and banking institutions, clearing houses, payment institutions, and others jointly conduct implementation shall be established and improved. The branch offices of the PBC at all levels shall attach importance to internal collaboration of their relevant departments, and make full use of their own policy resources to extend support to institutions that take an active part in the construction of the rural payment service environment; shall actively communicate and coordinate with local governments, and strive to extend support for policy-based payment services convenient for and beneficial to farmers in the forms such as fiscal subsidies, tax reduction and exemption, preferences in telecommunication services, earmarked funding, and inclusion in the contents of local government work performance assessment; and shall make coordination in order that the various fiscal subsidies in all regions are first distributed vicariously by agriculture-related financial institutions actively participating in the construction of the rural payment service environment.
VIII. Strengthening of Risk Management
13. Strengthening of risk management to guarantee payment security: Agriculture-related financial institutions and payment institutions shall establish and improve risk management systems meeting the characteristics of development of “agriculture, countryside, and farmers,” to enhance their security protection capacities; shall strictly implement the legal name requirements for accounts, and continue strengthening compliance of payment and clearing services; shall establish and improve customer funds compensation responsibility mechanisms, and define the responsibilities for protection of consumer rights related to payment and clearing services; shall strengthen internal controls, particularly business management of grassroots-level outlets and service points; and shall continue enhancing the security awareness of both employees and users by means such as security publicity, precaution education, and operating training. The branch offices of the PBC at all levels shall conduct inspection, investigation, and research in due time on the operating condition and the risk status of service points, and report in a timely manner any problems discovered; shall strengthen the monitoring of payment services in rural areas, cooperate with all relevant parties including public security authorities in establishing and improving long-acting mechanisms for preventing payment and clearing risks and fighting crimes in rural areas, report in a timely manner various risk information, and rapidly discover, dispose of, manage, and control risks; and shall make full use of the mechanism for joint suppression of major criminal offenses and violations in payment and clearing to launch intensive crackdown on criminal activities in the field of payment and clearing in rural areas at appropriate times, to develop a safe payment service environment.
IX. Strengthening of Construction of Long-Acting Mechanisms for Publicity and Training
14. Deepening of the work of payment and clearing publicity and training to enhance farmers' awareness: With physical outlets of agriculture-related financial institutions as the bases, routine work of publicity shall be strengthened, and regions meeting the necessary conditions may organize publicity in the form of on-site experiencing. According to the characteristics of service points of being oriented to the masses and taking root in rural areas, publicity of comprehensive financial knowledge shall be launched on the basis of service points. The various payment service providers such as banking institutions, clearing houses, and payment institutions shall be encouraged to make full use of diversified publicity channels, actively explore new types of publicity networks, and continue innovating on the modes of publicity. Presentation of work results at different stages shall be conducted in due time, and news media shall be directed to objectively and fully conduct publicity and coverage. Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city shall organize, at least once a year, the publicity of rural payment services within their respective jurisdictions, supervise all relevant parties in strengthening payment security publicity, strengthen the training of staffers who handle the specific services at service points and counters, among others, on payment service knowledge, in order that they are able to fully understand and skillfully operate the payment service products in use or offered as agents and continue enhancing their public service awareness and capacity in the publicity to farmers.
X. Working Requirements
15. Formulation of schemes for orderly advancement: The branch offices of the PBC at all levels shall objectively analyze the local actual circumstances, and in accordance with these Opinions, research and formulate working schemes and objectives meeting the realities within their respective jurisdictions. Banking institutions, clearing houses, and acquiring institutions shall conscientiously fulfill their work duties, actively explore, research, and implement the work defined in these Opinions, and strengthen feedback of information. Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city may arrange for acquiring institutions to choose service points with their respective jurisdictions to launch pilot programs of newly added payment services, while the PBC will also choose some regions to launch pilot programs of comprehensive services.
16. Careful summarization and reporting in a timely manner: Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city, Agricultural Bank of China, China Postal Savings Bank, China UnionPay Co., Ltd., the Rural Credit Banks Funds Clearing Center, and all provincial-level rural credit cooperative unions shall review in a timely manner their annual work of the construction of the rural payment service environment, and submit their reviews to the Payment System Department of the PBC before January 20 of the following year. The annual reviews of all provincial-level rural credit cooperative unions shall be submitted on behalf of them by the local branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in the capital city of a province (or autonomous region).
17. Positive incentives and commendation based on performance evaluation: Branch offices of the PBC shall attach importance to statistical analysis of data on the work of construction of the rural payment service environment, objectively report work progress, summarize experience in a timely manner, discover and redress loopholes, and on this basis, conduct inspection, supervision, and evaluation of the work of all relevant parties. The PBC will commend the entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions.
Branch offices of the PBC at and above the level of a central sub-branch in a sub-provincial city shall relay these Opinions to the local incorporated banking institutions and payment institutions within their respective jurisdictions in a timely manner.
The People's Bank of China
August 8, 2014
