Citibank First Foreign Bank to Launch Sole-Branded Credit Card in China
- 12 years ago
As the largest credit card issuer in the world, Citibank has become the first foreign bank to launch a sole-branded credit card in China. Anyone with a monthly salary above 3,500 yuan can apply for such cards.
The new set of Citi credit cards offers a total of five cards in two categories and are now available in 13 cities. Each card offers only a single currency, using Unionpay for RMB, and Visa or MasterCard for US dollars.
Citibank says its points and miles will never expire and that they expect China to be the largest credit market in the world by the end of the decade.
Citibank got approval to issue its own China credit cards in February and the decision was part of a government plan to make the banking market more competitive.
Foreign banks only account for less than 2 percent of China's banking services, so experts say the foreign banks' increased involvement in credit card services won’t be a threat to domestic banks.
According to the Central Bank, 300 million credit cards had been issued in China as of June, which is a 17.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
The new set of Citi credit cards offers a total of five cards in two categories and are now available in 13 cities. Each card offers only a single currency, using Unionpay for RMB, and Visa or MasterCard for US dollars.
Citibank says its points and miles will never expire and that they expect China to be the largest credit market in the world by the end of the decade.
Citibank got approval to issue its own China credit cards in February and the decision was part of a government plan to make the banking market more competitive.
Foreign banks only account for less than 2 percent of China's banking services, so experts say the foreign banks' increased involvement in credit card services won’t be a threat to domestic banks.
According to the Central Bank, 300 million credit cards had been issued in China as of June, which is a 17.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year.