China’s central bank urges antitrust probe into Alipay, WeChat Pay – sources

China’s top antitrust agency is looking at whether to launch a probe into Alipay and WeChat Pay, prompted by the central bank which argues the digital payment giants have used their dominant positions to quash competition, according to Reuters.

The State Council’s antitrust committee has been gathering information on Alipay, owned by Ant Group which in turn is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, as well as on Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat Pay for more than a month, they said.

Any investigation would likely dampen enthusiasm for Ant Group’s planned dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai that is seeking a valuation of more than $200 billion.

The antitrust committee has not made a decision about whether to proceed with an investigation, the sources said, and it was not clear when a decision might be made. One source said the committee is taking the People’s Bank of China’s recommendation “very seriously”.