(ECNS) -- QR codes are gaining regulators' recognition as a mobile payment solution, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.
In accordance with the Chinese central bank's requirement, the Payment and Clearing Association of China has issued a draft rule to regulate QR code payment business, setting security standards that institutions must follow.
The move comes as the first official recognition of QR codes as a mobile payment solution since the central bank suspended payments made via QR codes in March 2014, citing information and fund security concerns.
However, QR code payments never disappeared from the market despite the ban. At the end of 2014, following technological upgrades, some banks and third-party payment businesses began research and development of QR code payments.
In recent years, mobile payment solutions such as Alipay and WeChat Pay have been in wide use, and QR payments are also widely accepted by consumers. Even grocery and fruit vendors are allowing consumers to pay their bills via scanned QR codes.
On July 26, the central bank issued a notice to the Payment and Clearing Association of China and to China UnionPay, setting supervision principles and requirements concerning QR code payments, according to Beijing Youth Daily.
QR code payment solutions are a helpful supplement to traditional bank card payments, it said. The central bank required that relevant institutions ensure consumers' personal information and fund security by reinforcing risk controls and security management through transaction quota management.
The central bank also asked the Payment and Clearing Association to work with clearing firms, major commercial banks and payment institutions on technical and business standards for QR code payments, as well as on clear requirements for protection of personal information, fund security, encryption measures and storage of sensitive information.
