The People’s Bank of China’s second generation Internet payment system, which is also know as the super online banking system, has been formally launched in Shenzhen, Tianjin, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

According to the schedule, this new system will be available in ten additional cities, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing by mid-October, and will be further expanded to other cities in China by mid-November 2010.

An insider from a bank in Shenzhen revealed that the new super online banking system has better functions, including 24-hour cash flow, real-time interbank fund transfer, and interbank account management. The launch of the new system aims to improve the system efficiency of business banks and eliminate the internal consumption problem of the online banking systems of these business banks.

Under the technology requirements of PBOC, various banks in China have completed their development of systems for the access to the super online banking system. At present, basic services, including fund transfer and account information inquiry, have been opened and the services are currently only available to business users.

PBOC may further promote the new system after a one-month trial. The new system will not immediately replace the old one and the two will be run concurrently for a period of time.