Small merchants don’t have to worry! Alipay and WeChat: Personal payment codes will not be discontinued from March 1

In October last year, the central bank issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Payment Acceptance Terminals and Related Businesses" and required it to be implemented from March 1 this year; it put forward a series of management requirements for barcode payment.

At the same time, barcode payment has also been included in the supervision, and specific regulations have been made for the use of personal payment barcodes, which will come into effect on March 1, 2022.

As the new regulations are about to be implemented, the discussion has heated up again recently. One of the core concerns is whether a large number of small street vendors with low turnover need to change from personal payment codes to commercial payment codes? Will the cost increase?

On the evening of February 22, the Payment and Clearing Association of China, Alipay, and WeChat issued announcements almost simultaneously to clarify the matter.

It is reported that the Payment and Clearing Association released the "Announcement on Optimizing Barcode Payment Services" on its official website, announcing that the current "personal payment code" will not be closed or deactivated, and a new "personal business payment code" will be established. Users can choose to use it freely, with no reduction in service and no change in experience. The coding process is free of charge, and users can enjoy more efficient transaction reconciliation and other services.

Subsequently, the "WeChat Open Class" official account released an announcement on WeChat Pay regarding personal payment codes, stating that personal payment codes can continue to be used after March 1, 2022.

Alipay also issued an announcement on the personal payment code: after March 1, 2022, Alipay's personal payment code can continue to be used, and enjoy a series of existing services including free withdrawals; starting from March 1, Alipay's personal payment code can be upgraded to "personal business payment code". The upgrade process is completely free.