Domestic consumers will be able to pay in yuan when they shop on some foreign e-commerce websites because China now allows third-party online payment platforms to handle cross-border settlement in yuan. Five payment companies, including ChinaPay and Orient Electronic Payment Co, signed agreements with five banks – the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank and China Minsheng Banking Corp – to offer yuan payment services on five overseas e-commerce websites mainly based in Hong Kong. Online payment companies registered in Shanghai or having branches in the pilot free trade zone (FTZ) can provide cross-border yuan payment services for trading of goods and services, the Shanghai headquarters of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said. Individuals and companies can use the payment platforms to settle their orders in yuan to shorten the transaction period and avoid exchange rate risks. But payment companies said it will take time to expand the service to popular foreign online shopping destinations such as the U.S. as the yuan is not yet widely accepted there. The move marks the first of the central bank’s 30 ground breaking financial reform measures in the zone.