What’s new: The People’s Bank of China has given Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s payment arm approval to raise its registered capital to 15.3 billion yuan ($2.1 billion), according to the central bank’s updates on Friday.
This will make Tenpay Payment Technology Co. Ltd. (财付通支付科技有限公司) the country’s largest nonbank payment provider by that measure.
The approval increases the amount of capital that investors in the operator of WeChat Pay, one of China’s ubiquitous online payment platforms, can commit to the company.
With the approval, Tenpay’s registered capital will be more than 15 times higher than the current 1 billion yuan.
The company said the increase in registered capital will help it with its efforts in technological innovations and improving payment services.
The background: In recent years, China has been beefing up efforts to make payment services like WeChat Pay and Alipay, owned by Ant Group Co. Ltd., more friendly to foreigners.
In the latest move, the State Council, the country’s cabinet, released a directive on March 7, urging payment service providers to boost the accessibility of mobile payments and to streamline payment procedures for foreign users.
Read more China Pushes Banks, Alipay and WeChat Pay to Be More Foreigner-Friendly
Contact reporter Qing Na (qingna@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
