In addition to the two giants, there are 28 third-party payment companies that have obtained cross-border payment licenses. Unlike many third-party payment companies that hold payment licenses but do not actually conduct business, many of the 30 companies have entered the cross-border payment market, and the industry focus involved is different. This also shows from the side that the overall competitive environment of cross-border payment is better than that of the domestic online payment market. In addition to market conditions and corporate strategies, there are also certain objective favorable factors that have made cross-border payment a new battlefield for third-party payment. The RMB Cross-Border Payment System (CIPS) launched by the central bank in 2015 has built the foundation for RMB cross-border payment business from multiple aspects such as business processes, service agreements, and technical specifications. Compared with traditional large-value payment systems, CIPS has obvious advantages, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
First, on the basis of integrating existing RMB cross-border payment settlement channels, the intermediate process is reduced, and overseas companies can achieve RMB settlement through domestic branches, thereby improving cross-border settlement efficiency and transaction security.
Second, the internationally accepted ISO20022 message standard is adopted to improve the degree of standardization and effectively reduce the transaction error rate.
Finally, the system has a long operating time and can cover the main RMB business hours in different countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and other continents.
Although the purpose of the central bank’s launch of the RMB cross-border payment system is to promote the use of RMB worldwide and eventually make it a global currency, it objectively creates favorable conditions for third-party payment companies to carry out cross-border payments.
Based on the CIPS rules and technical standards, third-party payment companies can provide companies with more practical industry solutions or customized services, and the improvement of the payment link, in turn, promotes the prosperity and growth of cross-border trade, and taking root in the cross-border payment 2B service market has brought considerable returns to third-party payment companies.