CHINA’S central bank confiscated the illegal gains of and levied fines on three companies for violating regulations on payment services, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said Monday.

The confiscated illegal gains and fines totaled 77 million yuan (US$10.29 million).

Gopay.com had 22.18 million yuan of illegal gains confiscated and was fined 24.29 million yuan after it was found to have failed to carry out effective checks on transactions by online vendors, thus providing online payment services for illegal transactions. It also provided payment services for traders with vague identities.

Union Mobile Financial Technology Co., Ltd. was fined 14.32 million yuan in addition to confiscation of 12.08 million yuan in illegal gains after it was found to have conducted loose checks on customer identification and engaged in illegal overseas transfers of foreign exchange.

The Shanghai branch of PBOC issued a fine of 4.12 million yuan on Alipay for violating payment service regulations.

The central bank has lately taken a tough stance on Internet finance irregularities to improve market order. Two other third-party payment companies were fined a total of 34.75 million yuan a week ago. (Xinhua)