Industrial Bank (IB) released another product for its “Internet+” strategy. Recently, the bank launched the “Collection and Payment Direct Express” – a brand-new smart Internet-based inter-bank collection and payment platform, offering more convenience in payment and settlement for enterprises and reducing their costs.
It is learnt that this smart collection and payment platform integrates the intra-bank payment system of IB and payment channels of the super internet banking system of the People’s Bank of China and many third-party payment companies, initiates the mode of choosing the best payment channel via smart route engine, and provides specialized payment and settlement services including inter-bank gateway payment, fast payment and agency payment.
At present, the “Collection and Payment Direct Express” of IB can support inter-bank payment between all mainstream banks in the market, covering 62 banks including national banks such as ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, BOCOM and CMB in the area of personal inter-bank payment service, and 19 banks in the area of corporate inter-bank payment service. Besides, the mobile payment service newly released, such as WeChat payment, will also provide more convenience and options for various customers.
Compared with third-party payment institutions, the “Collection and Payment Direct Express” of IB standardizes the interfaces such that online payment can also be used offline. In this way, it enables unified access and account checking of smart route, boasting a higher security. Centering on the smart and secured payment route engine, the bank builds a three-in-one system for e-commerce collection and payment products, which integrates information service, collection and payment of funds and risk management.
It can be assured that this platform will bring substantial benefits to enterprises.
“With the ‘Collection and Payment Direct Express’, enterprises don’t need to connect a number of payment systems, thus reducing the development, operation and maintenance costs as well as the payment and settlement costs. Meanwhile, with the smart payment engine, the platform can meet the needs of different types of enterprises for collection and payment”. Zhang Guanyu, a member of the “Collection and Payment Direct Express” project of IB, told the reporter that relying on the national and regional payment systems of the People’s Bank of China, and institutions authorized by the People's Bank of China and third-party payment institutions, the platform connects the circulation skeleton of funds cross banks, region and sectors. In this way, one can fully enjoy the payment and settlement convenience online, offline, inter-bank and cross-platform (WeChat and Alipay) only with one-point connection.
This platform is also of great significance to IB. Huang Zhongbin, General Manager of the Cash Management Department of IB, indicated: “The ‘Collection and Payment Direct Express’ not only meets the needs of various corporate customers for online inter-bank collection and payment, but also extends the payment and settlement channels of relevant platforms and systems in the IB group. It is also an important arrangement of our bank for reinforcing innovation with respect to payment service, an inlet of internet finance.”
Insiders believe that internet payment is an important foundation for the development of internet finance, and to get a head start in the area of internet inter-bank payment in the mobile internet era is of crucial importance for financial institutions to accelerate the layout of “Internet+” in the future. The smart collection and payment platform of IB -- “Collection and Payment Direct Express” breaks the barriers among banks by integrated third-party payment channels, weaves a convenient service network covering various existing inter-bank payment channels in China by bringing into play advantages and making compensation to disadvantages. It is of massive room for imagination in the future.