Responding to new QR code rules taking effect this month, the leading payments body in China—The Payments and Clearing Association of China (PCAC)—along with Alipay and WeChat Pay each concurrently announced the launch of new QR codes for personal businesses.
The announcement—taking effect on March 1—states that these personal business receipt codes will serve to optimize QR code payments, differentiate users who engage in economic activity that is commercial in character and improve payments services for personal business operators.
PCAC, Alipay and WeChat Pay made the synchronic declaration after extensive concerns spread online that the big payments giants would be replacing personal QR codes of individual users.
The notice, which is meant to strengthen regulation of payments terminals and related operations, also prohibits the use of personal QR codes for long-distance, card not present payments, the sale or leasing of QR codes or their use in gambling.
