CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Beginning April 1, daily static code payment will be limited to 500 yuan. What is the purpose of this new regulation issued by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)? What impact will it have on our life?

PBOC announced a new regulation at the end of 2017 to define the risk grade of code (QR code) payment into four grades (A, B, C and D) and specify the trading limits, which include independent agreement, 5,000 yuan at most, 1,000 yuan at most and 500 yuan at most. The risk of static code payment is defined as Grade D. It means that the daily accumulative transaction amount via a bank amount or all payment accounts of one client shall not exceed 500 yuan.

Static code and dynamic code are different

The new regulation focuses on the static code and dynamic code. However, static code is the key element in the new regulation this time. No limit is imposed on the dynamic code payment.

Static code is the QR code printed on paperboard or white paper and placed at the front of the shop or booth for money collection. The Wechat or Alipay QR code pasted up at roadside booth, in vegetable market or grocery is printed by the merchant and such code is a static code.

On the other hand, the dynamic code is a Wechat or Alipay payment code produced to the cashier when making payments and it is generated randomly. Generally speaking, “scanned” is more secure than “scanning” and the daily ceiling of the former is also higher than the latter.

Data has shown that, more than 95% of the code payments made from 2015 to 2016 is less than 500 yuan. In the first half of 2017, the average amount from code payment in mainstream payment agencies is 108 yuan. It can be seen from the data that the execution of new regulation has limited impact for both the merchants and the customers. (Translated by Xu Mengmiao, Fathom Language Limited)