A cash-payment crisis at a licensed Chinese third-party payment company has left merchants and agents nationwide unable to access their transaction proceeds, prompting protests outside the central bank’s Chongqing branch.
Hundreds of merchants and agents traveled to Chongqing, a major municipality in southwestern China, in recent weeks to demand repayment from Globebill after widespread payment delays began in October.
On Nov. 5, protesters gathered outside the People’s Bank of China’s Chongqing branch; police arrived, and, according to people interviewed by The Epoch Times, they took several participants away. The interviewees spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
The company has not yet provided a clear repayment timetable. The total amount of unpaid funds has not been officially disclosed.
Unpaid Funds
A sales agent from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, who arrived in Chongqing on Nov. 2, told The Epoch Times that hundreds of people had gathered to seek answers, with more expected to arrive.
The agent estimated the total amount involved at around 500 million yuan ($75 million), though he acknowledged no official figures were available.
A payment-services provider from Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, gave a lower-bound estimate of the unpaid funds.
“Since the 26th of last month until now, basically nothing has been paid out. The unpaid funds are estimated to be at least 100 million yuan ($15 million),” the provider told The Epoch Times.
He said merchants’ key concern was whether they could recover money from completed transactions.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify either estimate.
The two interviewees offered different explanations for the crisis, with one pointing to possible internal financial mismanagement and the other suspecting a breakdown in the company’s cash flow.
The sales agent said the problem was not simply a delay in bank settlements. He believed the funds had already reached Globebill but were not being forwarded to merchants.
“The money had already reached the payment company, but then there were problems within the company, and it did not give the money to us merchants,” he alleged.
The payment-services provider alleged that Globebill may have run out of funds to advance payments to merchants.
He explained that payment companies often advance their own money to provide merchants with faster settlement services. If a company lacks sufficient liquidity, payments can stop even after customers complete transactions.
Merchants Await Repayment
The provider said police, local government officials, and central bank representatives had become involved. Their response had largely consisted of registering complaints and holding meetings, without offering a concrete repayment plan, he said.
“To be honest, they are just trying to reassure the agents without [providing] any results,” he said.
He said that agents had received no definite repayment schedule or assurances that the company could resume normal operations.
The crisis has also exposed the financial risks facing payment agents, who are caught between the company that owes them money and merchants demanding compensation.
The payment-services provider said some customers did not understand the distinction between payment companies and their agents. Since agents had supplied the point-of-sale (POS) terminals, customers sometimes held them responsible when transaction proceeds failed to arrive.
He said agents were victims themselves and could face substantial financial losses, with some potentially forced out of the industry.
The Epoch Times reached out to Globebill for comment but did not receive a response as of publication.
Li Jing and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.
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