CUPS · Bankcard Interbank Payment System (银行卡跨行支付系统)China's card authorization and clearing switch. Keep it distinct from the UnionPay brand: CUPS is the infrastructure, and UnionPay is the commercial scheme.China UnionPay Co., Ltd. · since 2002
Global registry · Asia-Pacific · East Asia
China Payment systems
33 systems listed.
CurrencyRenminbi (CNY)
Domestic schemeUnionPay
RegulatorPeople’s Bank of China (PBoC)
Leading payment methods
AlipayWeChat PayUnionPayCash
E-commerce shares
Wallets · 82%Cards · 10%Account-to-account · 5%Other · 3%
Alipay & WeChat Pay. The super-app duopoly: more than a billion users each, with QR codes everywhere from Michelin-starred restaurants to street vendors. Both are linked to bank accounts through the NetsUnion clearinghouse, under tight PBoC supervision since 2021.
Alipay / WeChat Pay users>1B each
UnionPay cards issued (worldwide)≈10B
Mobile share of in-store payments≈80–90% of urban transactions
The first “post-card” country: UnionPay remains the official card scheme, but the QR wallet is the de facto standard. The e-CNY (digital yuan) has been rolled out at scale but struggles to find a role next to wallets that already work flawlessly.
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
Payments in ChinaCollecting payments in China and repatriating the fundsPayments in Oceania and CanadaPayments in Central AsiaPayments in South Asia outside IndiaPayments in Southeast AsiaAccepting payments in ChinaAccepting payments in Australia and New ZealandAccepting payments in Indonesia and ThailandAccepting payments in Japan and South KoreaAccepting payments in Southeast AsiaPayments in Asia: super-apps, public rails, and cross-border QR
Card schemes
UnionPay (中国银联)The world’s largest card scheme by number of cards and gross volume, but with a volume mix very different from Visa’s and Mastercard’s (a large share of Chinese domestic cash withdrawals and debit). It held a de facto legal monopoly on domestic card clearing until the partial opening that followed China’s WTO accession.China UnionPay Co., Ltd. (a joint-stock company owned by Chinese banks and supervised by the PBoC) · since 20029.6 billion cards issued (March 2025) and about $35.7 trillion in 2025 volume according to the aggregator coinlaw.io. These figures are NOT cross-checked against the Nilson Report or a UnionPay publication and should be read as an order of magnitude. More than 200 million cards issued outside mainland China and acceptance in more than 180 countries (UnionPay International, 2024–2025 releases)
UnionPay InternationalChinese domestic card scheme turned global network, and the world’s largest by number of cards issued. It is a textbook case of this directory’s core thesis: a domestic scheme that becomes cross-border infrastructure. Since 2023, Alipay and WeChat Pay accept foreign cards directly, which has eroded its traditional role as the gateway for visitors to China.UnionPay International (subsidiary of China UnionPay) · since 2012
Instant payments
CNAPS · IBPS (Internet Banking Payment System / 网上支付跨行清算系统)China’s true 24/7 instant credit transfer rail, which long predates UPI and Pix. IBPS is the system linked to Hong Kong’s FPS through the Payment Connect arrangement. When practitioners talk about “Chinese instant payments,” they mean IBPS, not Alipay.China National Clearing Center (CNCC) / PBoC · since 2010
IBPS (Internet Banking Payment System) / CNAPSChina’s 24/7 interbank rail for low-value payments within CNAPS. End users barely see it because Alipay and WeChat Pay sit in front of it, but it is the rail that carries settlement.People's Bank of China (China National Clearing Center) · since 2010
Clearing and settlement
City Commercial Banks Draft Processing / Payment & Clearing System (城市商业银行汇票处理系统及支付清算系统)The counterpart of the previous system for city commercial banks: bank draft processing and interbank clearing across the network. Listed by the PBoC among the country’s payment systems.City Commercial Banks Clearing Co., Ltd. (城市商业银行资金清算中心)
CNAPS · BEPS (Bulk Electronic Payment System / 小额批量支付系统)China’s bulk ACH: direct debits, recurring transfers, payroll. Capped per transaction, with deferred net settlement, it is the small-value complement to HVPS.China National Clearing Center (CNCC) / PBoC · since 2006
NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (网联清算有限公司, NUCC)A cornerstone that is poorly understood outside China: since June 2018, all online payments by non-bank institutions (Alipay, Tenpay/WeChat Pay) must go through NetsUnion instead of connecting directly to banks. That made super-app flows visible to the central bank and brought them under its control. In 2025 it was placed under direct PBoC AML/CFT supervision, alongside Alipay and Tenpay.NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (company set up under PBoC authorization, jointly owned by the PBoC and payment institutions) · since 2017
NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (Wanglian)Clearing house created to force online payments by non-bank institutions (Alipay, WeChat Pay) through supervised infrastructure instead of bilateral connections to banks. That decision is key to understanding the Chinese market.NetsUnion Clearing Corp. (controlled by the PBoC) · since 2017
Rural Credit Banks Payment & Clearing System (农信银支付清算系统)Clearing system for the rural credit cooperative network, several thousand institutions not directly connected to CNAPS. Consistently missing from Western overviews, even though it serves a huge share of the rural population.Rural Credit Banks Funds Clearing Center (农信银资金清算中心) · since 2006
上海票据交易所 (Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange)China’s unified national platform for commercial bills, with explicit functions for trading, registration and custody, clearing and settlement (清算结算), and risk monitoring. It runs the 电子商业汇票系统 (ECDS) and the bill trading system. It was set up to clean up a market ravaged by the 2016 bank fraud scandals by dematerializing paper bills. A Chinese inventory that lists SHCH, NUCC, and the rural clearing houses but leaves out the 票交所 has a major gap.上海票据交易所股份有限公司 (established by decision of the State Council and licensed by the People’s Bank of China, with 29 institutional shareholders, including several central bank entities, the NAFMII industry association, and the Shanghai Gold Exchange) · since 2016opened on December 8, 2016; registered capital of RMB 1.845 billion, with PBoC entities contributing about RMB 1 billion at launch (上海票据交易所, 2016)
Mastercard NUCC Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.Lets Mastercard have renminbi cards issued and cleared in China under its own brand, outside UnionPay. Together with the American Express joint venture, it ends UnionPay's de facto monopoly on domestic clearing. Any practitioner who still assumes a card cleared in China must go through UnionPay has been wrong since 2020.Mastercard NUCC Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (joint venture between Mastercard and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, licensed by the People's Bank of China as a bank card clearing institution) · since 2023Bank card clearing license granted by the PBoC on November 17, 2023; the second foreign network licensed in China's domestic market (Mastercard, November 2023).
Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Co., Ltd.Handles domestic clearing and settlement for American Express-branded cards issued by Chinese banks. That made American Express the first foreign network allowed to clear renminbi transactions in mainland China. It was the opening through which China's domestic clearing market was pried open, three years before Mastercard.Express (Hangzhou) Technology Services Co., Ltd. (joint venture between American Express and LianLian DigiTech, known in China as LianTong; incorporated in 2017, approved by the People's Bank of China as a bank card clearing institution in 2018, and licensed in 2020) · since 2020Bank card clearing license obtained in June 2020; the first Sino-foreign joint venture licensed as a card clearing institution in China (PBoC, June 2020).
Wallets
Alipay (支付宝)The global prototype of the payments super-app: payment account, credit, investments, insurance, and mini-programs. Since 2018 its online transactions have had to go through NetsUnion, and since 2021–2023 its QR codes have had to be interoperable with UnionPay and WeChat Pay.Ant Group (Alibaba Group) · since 2004about 54% of China’s mobile payment market (OECD competition background note, June 2025); more than 1 billion users claimed by Ant Group
UnionPay QuickPass (闪付) and Cloud QuickPass / 云闪付The Chinese state’s response to the Alipay/WeChat duopoly: a bank-backed app, promoted by administrative means, and the vehicle for UnionPay’s cross-border QR interoperability (mutual recognition agreements, including one signed with BKM in Turkey in Nov. 2025).China UnionPay · since 2015More than 650 million UnionPay QR users, according to UnionPay (reference year not stated in the source, not cross-checked); QuickPass QR volume up 200% in Cambodia in Q1 2025 (UnionPay International)
WeChat Pay / Weixin Pay (微信支付) and Tenpay (财付通)Alipay’s social counterpart. Its strength is P2P and small merchants, through hongbao (digital red envelopes) and printed static QR codes. Together with Alipay, it accounts for about 90% to 96% of Chinese mobile payments.Tenpay Payment Technology (Tencent): Tenpay holds the license, WeChat Pay is the interface · since 2005about 42% of China’s mobile payment market (OECD, June 2025); 1,414 million monthly active Weixin/WeChat users as of Sept. 30, 2025 (Tencent). Caution: that is the messaging app’s MAU, not the wallet’s
度小满支付 (Du Xiaoman Pay)Captive wallet of a fintech group spun off from Baidu. It mainly handles internal payments in Du Xiaoman’s consumer credit ecosystem, not mass-market merchant acceptance. A useful example of how a Chinese payment license has become an asset for controlling the value chain more than a consumer product.北京度小满支付科技有限公司 (payment institution licensed by the People’s Bank of China, with its license renewed in the sixth round of renewals in July 2023; formerly 百付宝 (Baifubao), Baidu’s wallet, which moved to Du Xiaoman when Baidu spun off its financial services business in April 2018) · since 2018
快手支付 (Kuaishou Pay)In-house payment component of the Kuaishou video platform, obtained by buying an existing license rather than applying for a new one. That is the usual route for a Chinese platform that wants to stop depending on Alipay and WeChat Pay for its own live commerce.北京华瑞富达科技有限公司 (payment institution licensed since 2012, brought under Kuaishou’s control after the People’s Bank of China approved the change of ownership)
多多支付 (Duoduo Pay)Pinduoduo’s proprietary payment arm, built on an acquired license rather than a new one. Same logic as Douyin and Kuaishou: bring payments in house on a very high-volume marketplace to capture the flows and the settlement data.上海付费通信息服务有限公司 (payment institution whose acquisition by a Pinduoduo affiliate (上海易翼信息科技有限公司) was approved by the People’s Bank of China in March 2025) · since 2025
Interoperable QR
Alipay / WeChat Pay / UnionPay QR interoperabilityThe regulatory end of the “walled garden”: the offline barcodes of all three players can now be scanned by one another. This matters because it changes how merchants integrate payments in China: a single QR code may now be enough.PBoC mandate, bilateral implementation by Ant / Tencent / China UnionPay · since 2021
Buy now, pay later
Huabei (花呗)The world’s largest BNPL by outstanding balances, built into Alipay checkout. A decisive regulatory change: from September 30, 2026, consumer credit products such as Huabei and Baitiao can no longer be offered in the payment flow, and users will have to take out a loan separately. Estimated impact: a 30% to 40% drop in usage frequency.Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co. (Ant Group’s consumer credit subsidiary. Since the brand separation that began on November 25, 2021, Huabei (花呗) refers only to balances funded by Ant Consumer Finance. The portion funded by partner banks (including Bank of Beijing, Shengjing Bank, and Bank of Ningbo) was renamed Xinyonggou (信用购) and is shown separately in Alipay, with each funding bank reporting to the PBoC credit registry.) · since 2014Combined Huabei and Jiebei balances of about RMB 2.1 trillion at the end of 2024 (Chinese trade press, 2025, not cross-checked against a regulatory filing); more than 80% of new Huabei users in 2024 had never had a credit card
JD Baitiao (京东白条)China’s first e-commerce BNPL, predating Huabei. It is subject to the same payment/credit separation required from September 30, 2026.JD Technology (JD.com) · since 2014About RMB 800 billion in volume in 2024, about 50% of it generated in the JD payment flow (JD Technology, cited by the trade press, 2025)
Jiebei (借呗)Cash consumer loans (not installment payments at checkout). Since 2021, the brand has been reserved for Ant Consumer Finance entities, and bank co-lending can no longer use it.Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co. (Ant Group) · since 2015included in the about RMB 2.1 trillion in combined Huabei and Jiebei balances at the end of 2024 (trade press, 2025)
Acquiring and processing
ChinaUMS / UnionPay Merchant Services (银联商务)China’s largest merchant acquirer. Any payments lead who wants to accept payments in mainland China deals with it, directly or indirectly.China UnionPay Merchant Services Co. (UnionPay subsidiary) · since 2002
Cross-border rails
CIPS (Cross-border Interbank Payment System / 人民币跨境支付系统)The settlement rail for cross-border renminbi, using a hybrid of RTGS and deferred net settlement, and also handling HKD. A commonly misunderstood point: CIPS still relies on SWIFT for messaging on more than 80% of its flows, so it is not (yet) a full alternative to SWIFT.CIPS Co. (Ltd., a company licensed and supervised by the PBoC (which is also its largest shareholder)) · since 20152025: 8.4419 million transactions worth RMB 180.15 trillion, or about 31,900 transactions and RMB 679.8 billion a day (CIPS figures cited by English Wikipedia, 2026, not cross-checked against the CIPS annual report); 210 direct and 1,619 indirect participants as of June 30, 2026 (official CIPS website)
XTransferA private collection and settlement rail for Chinese export SMBs: multicurrency accounts, local accounts, FX, and settlement. It stands in for traditional correspondent banking, which became out of reach for this segment after AML/CFT rules tightened. On China’s cross-border side, stopping at CIPS and Alipay+ misses the entire merchant layer.XTransfer Limited (based in Hong Kong, with operations in mainland China; specializes in B2B trade payments)more than 800,000 corporate clients, local accounts in about 60 countries and territories, and a presence in more than 200 markets; claims the No. 1 spot worldwide in cross-border B2B payments by volume for January–December 2025 (XTransfer, 2026)
LianLian Global (连连数字)A Chinese cross-border payment provider for e-commerce sellers: overseas collection accounts, payouts, merchant acquiring, FX, and virtual cards. With PingPong and XTransfer, it forms the layer through which Chinese merchants’ sales on Amazon, eBay, or Shopee actually flow: private infrastructure that official inventories do not see.连连数字 (a Chinese payments group holding a clearing license from the People’s Bank of China, plus licenses in the US, the UK, Brazil, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia)TPV of RMB 452.4 billion and more than 10.4 million cross-border businesses served as of year-end 2025, with more than 68 payment licenses and authorizations (LianLian Global, 2025)
PingPongPrivate cross-border payment infrastructure for Chinese e-commerce sellers: global accounts, payouts, collections, and FX. The annualized volume it claims puts it on par with a mid-sized national payment rail, a scale that alone earns it a place in any serious inventory of Chinese payment systems.PingPong (a group of Chinese origin operating under a portfolio of local licenses in more than 200 markets)more than 750,000 corporate clients, more than $300 billion in annualized volume as of June 30, 2026, 180 transaction currencies, and 82 licenses and authorizations (PingPong, 2026)
Central bank digital currency
e-CNY / digital yuan (数字人民币)PilotThe world’s largest retail CBDC pilot, still not officially launched. Two recent shifts matter: a management framework effective January 1, 2026, that brings the e-CNY closer to interest-bearing deposit money rather than a simple substitute for banknotes, and a plan for a dedicated national clearing house modeled on UnionPay. An international operations center opened in Shanghai in 2025.People’s Bank of China (Digital Currency Research Institute); two-tier distribution through authorized operating institutions · since 2019Cumulative transactions of RMB 16.7 trillion (about $2.47 trillion) as of Nov. 2025 (press reports citing the PBoC); more than 3.4 billion transactions as of Dec. 2025 (Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker); 22 operating institutions in early 2026 after 12 more banks were authorized
Other
Interchange framework: NDRC/PBOC notice 发改价格〔2016〕557号 (China)In China, the state sets interchange, not the scheme, a setup unique among major markets. Read it alongside the gradual opening of domestic clearing to foreign networks: American Express (through a joint venture licensed in 2020) and Mastercard NUCC (PBOC license of November 17, 2023) are the only two foreign networks allowed to clear RMB card transactions. Visa has no license so far.NDRC / PBoC (National Development and Reform Commission and People’s Bank of China) · since 2016Domestic interchange capped at 0.35% on debit and 0.45% on credit, plus a network fee (about 0.0325% on debit); in effect since September 6, 2016 (NDRC/PBOC notice 发改价格〔2016〕557号, 2016). Outside China, UnionPay rates range from about 0.20% to 1.50% depending on country, MCC, product, and channel (UnionPay International, Fees by Market).
CDFCPS (China Domestic Foreign Currency Payment System / 境内外币支付系统)Interbank settlement in foreign currencies INSIDE China (USD, EUR, HKD, JPY, and others). Often overlooked, it keeps domestic flows that are not denominated in yuan from having to go through offshore correspondent banks.China National Clearing Center (CNCC) / PBoC · since 2008
CNAPS · HVPS (High Value Payment System / 大额实时支付系统)The large-value RTGS for the onshore yuan and the base layer on which every other Chinese rail, including CIPS and NetsUnion, ultimately settles. The HVPS2 version was rolled out starting in 2013.China National Clearing Center (CNCC) (operating subsidiary of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC)) · since 2005
Shanghai Clearing House (银行间市场清算所股份有限公司, SHCH)Central counterparty and depository for China’s interbank market (bonds, OTC derivatives, FX). Worth citing as soon as the discussion moves from retail payments to wholesale settlement.Interbank Market Clearing House Co. (shareholders: PBoC/CFETS) · since 2009