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China: Foreign credit card firms to apply for clearing licenses

By  |  April 23, 2015

Foreign companies on the mainland can apply for bank card clearing licences starting from June 1, a step towards allowing firms such as Visa and MasterCard to compete directly with mainland card monopoly China UnionPay.

The State Council announced the new regulations on its website yesterday after saying in October that foreign firms meeting certain criteria could set up clearing companies. At the time, it did not give a timeframe for making the change, although sources at a major card-manufacturing firm said the People’s Bank of China was aiming to open the market in August this year.

“We are hopeful these new regulations will permit additional participants in the Chinese domestic market,” said a spokesman for Visa in China.

 

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