Citi, three other foreign banks set for China debit card debut

Our Corporate Bureau
07 June 2007

Mumbai: Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and two other banks are expected to be the first foreign banks that will issue local-currency debit cards to consumers in China, a senior banking regulator said.

Citigroup, HSBC and Bank of East Asia have already applied to the Shanghai branch of the China Banking Regulatory Commission for approval to issue debit cards while Standard Chartered was expected to apply soon, Wang Huaqing, assistant to the chairman of the CBRC, said.

Initially, foreign banks will be allowed to issue local-currency debit cards, while permission for dual-currency credit cards are expected to come after that.

"Currently, we are receiving applications only for debit card issuance instead of credit card issuance, due to current Chinese banking rules," Wang told reporters on the sidelines of a banking summit in Shanghai.

China, the world's fourth-largest economy, had made a commitment in late May, as part of its "strategic economic dialogue" with the United States, to allow foreign-invested banks to offer yuan-denominated credit and debit cards under their own brands.