Chinese authorities are considering requiring Tencent to include WeChat Pay in a newly created financial holding company, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The Alipay rival may need to secure a separate payment license if the regulators decide to proceed with such a move. Tencent initially operated WeChat Payment, a service that holds a massive amount of user financial data, directly along with other core business areas including social media and gaming, but in 2021 regulators required tech firms to spin off financial services in order to subject them to stricter regulations similar to those for traditional banks. In addition to mobile payments, the WeChat parent company may need to fold its banking, securities, insurance and credit scoring services into the financial arm. [Bloomberg]