Understanding the End-to-End Architecture of Chinese Internet Payments
This article walks readers through the complete point‑to‑point, end‑to‑end payment chain in China, using a JD.com purchase of Three Squirrels nuts as a concrete example to illustrate the roles of the cashier, order, transaction, payment, settlement, and accounting subsystems within a typical e‑commerce payment architecture.
In this article the author, a senior architect, introduces the overall payment chain in China, from the moment a user decides to buy a product on an e‑commerce platform (e.g., JD.com) to the final settlement with the merchant.
The payment flow includes four main stages: selecting a platform, placing an order and entering the cashier, routing the payment through third‑party providers (WeChat Pay, UnionPay, etc.) that connect to commercial banks, and finally reaching the People’s Bank of China for clearing and settlement.
The typical service‑platform payment architecture consists of a user‑facing cashier, an order system, a transaction system, a payment core, and a payment channel subsystem that communicates with banks and clearing houses.
After a payment succeeds, a clearing line processes the transaction data, sends it to a settlement center, records it in the accounting system, notifies the core accounting module, and finally settles funds to the merchant.
The cashier module provides a unified payment page for users, handling both payment and recharge scenarios, and ensures a consistent experience across different terminals.
The transaction core acts as a façade for business systems, converting various business transactions into payment orders that the payment core can process.
The payment core defines services (payment, recharge, transfer, refund), workflows, and payment instructions, abstracting the underlying payment channels.
The member system manages user identities, linking accounts, cards, and other relationships, distinguishing between personal and enterprise members.
The accounting core maintains account types, records fund movements, and produces accounting data for internal finance compliance.
The settlement core enforces clearing and settlement rules, completing fund distribution according to configured policies.
Overall, building a third‑party payment platform involves dozens of subsystems, illustrating the complexity of modern payment architectures.
Top Architect
Top Architect focuses on sharing practical architecture knowledge, covering enterprise, system, website, large‑scale distributed, and high‑availability architectures, plus architecture adjustments using internet technologies. We welcome idea‑driven, sharing‑oriented architects to exchange and learn together.
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