Shanghai, Jan 02: Citibank and HSBC Holdings have become the first foreign banks to win approval to issue credit cards in China , state media said on Thursday. The banks were expected to be formally notified after the one-day New Year holiday, the Internatinal Finance News said, quoting an official at the Shanghai branch of the banking regulator. HSBC would issue the cards in conjunction with local partner Bank of Shanghai, in which it has an 8% stake, the newspaper said. Citigroup unit Citibank would team up with Shanghai Pudong Deelopment Bank, it added. Citigroup has a 4.62% stake in the listed Chinese lender.
While Citibank and HSBC are upbeat at the prospect of finally being allowed to offer local-curency credit cards in China , other banks are more cautious. Britain ’s Standard Chartered Bank has said rule and regulations cvering credit cards in China are still too vague for them to consider entering the field.
Last month, banking regulatory chief Liu Mingkang said the country was still working on rules to allow foreign banks to issue their own credit cards in China . China has about 560 million bank cards, most of them deposit-backed debit cards, industry sources say. Bureau Report