NetEase Payments recently updated its fee schedule, drawing attention to a "rounding up" method for certain transactions. The company, officially known as NetEase (Hangzhou) Payments Co., Ltd., published a revised version of its payment service charges on July 31, compared to a previous version from July 20.

Most fees remained unchanged across both versions, including gateway, quick payment, account, and bank transfer fees ranging from 0.40% to 1.10%, a real-name authentication fee of 0.25 to 1 yuan per transaction, and cross-border foreign exchange and yuan transaction fees of 0.10% to 0.50%.

The change centered on the "transfer to bank account (including corporate and individual withdrawals)" category. The July 20 version stated a fee of "0% to 1% of the withdrawal amount or 0 to 2 yuan per transaction." The latest version revised this to "0% to 1% of the withdrawal amount (rounded up) or 0 to 2 yuan per transaction."

According to analysts, "rounding up" means that any fractional amount would be adjusted to the higher value, which is considered "basically compliant" but raises questions about fairness. Dong Ximiao, chief economist at China Merchants Union, explained to the Financial Times that the fee disclosure itself meets the requirements of the "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-Bank Payment Institutions." However, the fairness and transparency of the rule are questionable, as electronic payments can be precise to the cent, and applying a "rounding up" method that only benefits the company poses issues of reasonableness and equity.

When contacted by the press, NetEase Payments clarified that the "rounding up" mentioned in the second announcement was intended as a convenience rule for internal business entities within the group, not for external users or merchants, who are always settled based on actual amounts. The company admitted that the inaccurate wording led to public misunderstanding and stated it would withdraw the second announcement, replacing it with an internal notice.

As of the time of reporting, NetEase Payments had updated its official website, removing the July 31 version and retaining only the July 20 version. However, industry insiders widely believe that future adjustments to fee expressions by payment institutions will face heightened scrutiny, a necessary step as the industry moves toward full compliance.