Banking News
- Foreign bank card requests accepted
Date: 7-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) is accepting bank card applications from overseas banks, people familiar with the CBRC told Xinhua yesterday.
Overseas banks that meet CBRC requirements and related standards can apply to run bank card operations in China, the people said.
The government will allow foreign incorporated banks that qualify for yuan retail business to issue yuan bank cards which meet the operational and technical standards of China's banking cards, according to the decision reached at the China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue held last month, Xinhua reported.
These banks will enjoy the same treatment as Chinese banks, Xinhua said.
The move will allow overseas banks to offer a full range of yuan services, according to the Xinhua report.
Under the Administrative Rules on Foreign Banks, which took effect last December, overseas banks can issue their own brand of yuan bank cards when they register as local entities.
However, technical problems such as risk control and payment systems still need to be clarified in the new bank card regulations.
Many overseas banks that have incorporated in China or have plans to do so are waiting for the new bank card regulation to move forward, according to the Xinhua report.
An initial draft of the regulation has been completed by the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission, an earlier report said.
Domestic banks have issued more than 1.1 billion bank cards, of which 1.08 billion are debit cards and some 50 million credit cards, according to figures released by the People's Bank of China, Xinhua reported.
In another development, Bank of East Asia Ltd., Hong Kong's fifth-largest bank, said Tuesday it had applied to banking regulator on the mainland for approval to issue debit cards to account holders at its mainland unit.
If approved, Bank of East Asia would become the first foreign bank to offer debit cards independently in the world's fourth-largest economy, where many consumers still see cash as king.
'After the cards are issued, it will be more convenient for Bank of East Asia to offer yuan-denominated deposit and wealth management services to local clients,'the bank said in a statement.
'We hope we can be one of the first foreign banks to issue debit cards on the mainland,'it added.
Debit cards on the mainland allow the user to withdraw cash from automatic teller machines (ATMs) or to make payments directly to merchants that are bank partners, within the amount deposited in the account.
The planned yuan-denominated debit card will carry the commercial logo of Bank of East Asia and China UnionPay's brand, Bank of East Asia said.
China UnionPay, the sole operator of the mainland's interbank transaction network, which is backed by the central bank, controls the country's bank payment system and ATMs.
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