The payment institution tied to PDD has undergone another significant leadership transition. On September 13, information from the Shanghai Branch of the People's Bank of China showed approval for Shanghai PayTone Payment Services Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "PayTone") to appoint Chi Yanjia as deputy general manager, with Ma Junjie stepping down from that role; Ouyang Fan was approved as technology head, replacing Wang Jinde.
PayTone originally obtained its Payment Business Permit from the central bank in 2011, with approved business types covering stored-value account operations Class I, stored-value account operations Class II (Shanghai), and payment transaction processing Class I (nationwide).
Notably, PayTone's management had just undergone a round of changes earlier this year. At that time, Ma Junjie was appointed deputy general manager, replacing Dai Zhihui; Lin Jiecheng became head of compliance and risk control, succeeding Guo Meirong.
"After the formal implementation of the Measures for Classified Rating Management of Non-Bank Payment Institutions in February 2026, higher standards were imposed on corporate governance, compliance risk control, and technology governance, prompting many payment firms to optimize executive lineups this year. Therefore, PayTone's latest executive shift may reflect proactive management restructuring in response to regulatory requirements, a routine move during the governance adaptation phase," said Wang Pengbo, chief analyst at Botong Consulting.
When contacted about the reasons and impact of the successive management changes, PayTone did not respond by the time of reporting.
In fact, what draws more attention to PayTone is its big-tech background. Its controlling shareholder is Shanghai Yiyi Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Yiyi Information"), an affiliate of PDD. Both PayTone and Yiyi Information list PDD CEO Chen Lei as their legal representative.
A test on the PDD app shows shoppers can choose from multiple payment methods including WeChat Pay, Alipay, and UnionPay QuickPass, as well as the platform's own product, "Duoduo Pay." The product page indicates this service is powered by PayTone. Specifically, its functions cover top-ups, withdrawals, transfers, consumption, collections, refunds, bank card management, password-free payments, and buy-now-pay-later options, corresponding to the "stored-value account operations Class I" and "payment transaction processing Class I" licenses.
It is precisely this payment license that laid the foundation for building and operating PDD's payment system. Wang Pengbo told reporters that, generally speaking, as the payment service provider, a payment institution primarily bears the compliance function of the license entity, handling fund clearing for platform transactions, account receipt and payment processing, and compliant management of reserves. This supports the closed-loop payment ecosystem and wallet product implementation. The license itself constitutes the legal and operational backbone of a platform's self-built payment system, with merchant settlements, user wallet top-ups, consumption, refunds, and withdrawals all relying on this entity.
To that end, PDD has invested considerable effort in PayTone. Looking back, in January 2020, Yiyi Information acquired a 50.01% stake in PayTone, becoming its largest shareholder. In 2025, Yiyi Information increased its stake twice in succession, lifting ownership to 93.89%. Beyond share consolidation, PayTone's registered capital rose from 121.65 million yuan to 300 million yuan in 2025, and the company name was changed from "Shanghai PayTone Information Service Co., Ltd." to include the word "Payment." Both moves were made to satisfy the requirements of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Non-Bank Payment Institutions.
In May 2026, PayTone's payment license was successfully renewed as "valid for an indefinite term." In Wang Pengbo's view, the executive changes, capital increase, renaming, and license renewal collectively signal PDD's efforts to solidify its proprietary payment infrastructure and promote standardized, independent operations of the payment entity. This reflects the platform's shift of payment from a supporting business role to a self-built financial infrastructure, using governance restructuring and management turnover to prepare the license holder for long-term compliant operations and deeper payment business development.
However, PDD did not respond to questions about PayTone's role in its payment system or its future payment business plans. Wang Pengbo further noted that for PDD to make effective use of the PayTone license, it needs to embed the wallet across more payment and collection scenarios to complete the fund loop. It also must continue developing derivative services such as account balances, promotional subsidies, and credit-based payments within the regulatory framework, while ensuring system stability and data compliance. By leveraging the license to extract value from transaction data and user accounts, PDD can gradually reduce its reliance on third-party external payment channels.