Business
WeChat Pay Hong Kong Slapped with HK$875,000 Fine by HKMA for Lapses in Customer Due Diligence Over Five-Year Span
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has imposed a fine of HK$875,000 on Tencent's WeChat Pay Hong Kong for negligence in implementing necessary checks. The investigation by HKMA spanned five years, concluding in October 2021, during this time, WeChat Pay was found lacking in the implementation of sufficient measures and controls.
On Friday, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it has levied a penalty of HK$875,000 (US$112,205) on WeChat Pay Hong Kong, a local division of Tencent Holdings' mobile payment service. The fine was for failing to properly execute procedures for customer due diligence.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) imposed penalties on WeChat Pay after conducting a probe that spanned from August 2016 to October 2021. Throughout this duration, the service provider was found lacking in establishing sufficient and suitable measures in relation to customer due diligence.
The shortcomings were primarily related to protocols against money laundering and terror funding via stored value services, as per a declaration from the HKMA.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated that WeChat Pay failed to evaluate the dangers after receiving warnings from police agencies. They were advised to carry out thorough checks on mobile numbers potentially associated with fraud and verify if these numbers were connected to their clients.
The firm received data on 1,827 instances linked to 500 accounts. From these, 98 corresponded to 84 clients who were later reported to the Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) of the Hong Kong government.
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