China will approve five foreign banks to issue stand-alone credit cards for the first time to Chinese consumers. The five banks, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia and Hang Seng Bank, will have to satisfy “technical standards” before being permitted to issue bank card services, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission – though no timetable was provided.
Also unconfirmed was whether the cards would be yuan denominated, which
is what the banks want – although there would be some governmental
concerns since the Chinese currency is not traded internationally.
Foreign banks have been able to issue credit cards in China since 2004,
but only via joint venture agreements with Chinese banks. There were 40
million credit cards in circulation in China in 2006, according to
official figures.
News & Interviews 
(0 vote)
