Commercial Cards To Boost Saudi Arabia-China Trade

Banks have traditionally inked trade financing deals to help businesses outside their borders increase trade with domestic firms, but one Chinese company is turning to commercial cards to facilitate cross-border deals.

On Friday (Sept. 18) China-based payment firm Globebill said it has struck a deal with Saudi Arabia to facilitate bank card settlements in an effort to streamline commerce between the two nations.

[bctt tweet=”China’s Globebill, Saudi Arabia to facilitate bank card settlements to streamline commerce between the two nations.”]

The cooperation agreement will see Globebill issuing credit cards to businesses and individuals. The cards will operate over a settlement system in Saudi Arabia to ease friction of payments made between borders.

According to reports, Globebill’s plan makes it one of the first to provide such a third-party payment platform after it secured an ePayments license from the People’s Bank of China. The company added that it is among the first payment firms to secure State Administration of Foreign Exchange approval for cross-border eCommerce transactions.

Both Globebill and Saudi Arabia said they would promote the launch of the new payment and settlement service, as well as the issuance of credit cards to companies and consumers.

Reports said China is now Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner.

China has made initiatives in recent months to boost its cross-border trade. Last June government officials launched an initiative to expand cross-border finance to companies in an effort to increase their business with overseas firms and boost the global value of the yuan.

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