Visa, the global card payment giant, has taken its first step into China's card payment market, following American Express and Mastercard.
On October 13, the People's Bank of China announced on its website that it has granted approval for Visa's local entity, Weis Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., to prepare for the establishment of a bank card clearing and settlement institution.
The central bank described this move as a significant advancement in the opening of China's financial market.
However, this approval does not mean that operations can begin immediately. Visa must complete preparations, including the establishment of a payment network, and apply for an operating license within the next year. After that, it must pass reviews by the People's Bank and the National Financial Regulatory Administration before it can start its yuan card clearing operations in China.
This marks the first major milestone for Visa in entering the Chinese market nearly a decade after the country opened its card payment sector to foreign companies in 2015.
Ryan McInerney, Visa's CEO, stated in a release that this approval represents a "significant advancement" in the company's long-standing efforts to enter the Chinese market. He added, "Visa has actively contributed to the development of China's dynamic payment market for over 40 years and will follow the necessary procedures according to the People's Bank's regulations to begin operations in China."
Currently, the only foreign companies authorized to operate in China's card payment sector are American Express and Mastercard. Both companies received formal approvals through joint ventures with Chinese firms in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
This approval for Visa's establishment preparation is also noteworthy in the context of US-China economic cooperation. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, the two countries reached a principled agreement in trade negotiations last month ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States, which included provisions for approving applications for local entities by US financial institutions in China.
The scale of China's card market is substantial. According to the People's Bank, as of the end of the second quarter, there were a total of 10.27 billion bank cards issued in China, of which 677 million were credit cards and combined credit and debit cards.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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