Canadian arm of China’s largest bank had plans to set up payments processor to collect spending data

Open this photo in gallery: An ICBK branch located at 350 York Regional Road 7 in Richmond Hill, Ont., on March 18.Duane Cole/The Globe and Mail The Canadian subsidiary of China’s largest bank spearheaded a project to establish a new payments processor that would collect financial information about Canadians of Chinese descent, as well as Chinese nationals and other consumers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Canada), which is known internally as ICBK, led a group of companies that put together a proposal around 2019 and 2020 to set up a new…