Trip.com Group has launched its own payment portal Chengzhifu (程支付) for in-app purchases. To use this portal, users need to bind bank accounts to their Trip.com account and enter bank card details, ID information and e-tokens to complete payment.
James Liang, chairman of the company, said in 2013 that Trip.com planned to tap the payment and consumer loans business in a bid to become China’s American Express. But with restricted access to payment licenses under Chinese regulations, Trip.com had to acquire Shanghai Oriental Information Technology Services, a payment license holder, in September 2020, to be able to achieve the ambition.
Before the acquisition of a payment license, Trip.com had already gained licenses for a range of other financial services including consumer finance, personal loans, insurance broker/agent, factoring and Internet banking in Hong Kong.
Last year, Trip.com Group partnered with Standard Chartered, PCCW and HKT to launch a new virtual banking service and Asia’s first all-in-one numberless bank card, Mox.
