The fledgling bank card business in China is promising and has broad market prospects, said Chai Hongfeng, vice president of China UnionPay Corp., at a conference on banking cards held earlier this week in this coastal city of east China's Shandong Province.

Awareness of consumption on bank cards is being built among the Chinese people, in line with the development of information technology and changes in consumption mentality.

Currently in China for every one yuan worth of consumption about 0.2 yuan is paid through the bank card service system, or 20percent of total consumption.

Latest statistics show that China had issued 690 million bank cards by the end of the first quarter of this year, 80 million more than the 610-million level by the end of 2003. The number of franchised businesses under the bank card regime amounted to 540,000, and that of bank card issuers to 141 nationwide.

At the end of last year, interbank services became available in684 Chinese cities. And the year saw 1.2 billion interbank card-based deals made around the nation, which were valued at more than380 billion yuan (45.78 billion US dollars), up 90 percent and 110percent respectively from the previous year level.

Between January and April this year, interbank card business totaled 187.6 billion yuan (22.6 billion US dollars) worth, a year-on-year increase of 103 percent.

China is taking a series of measures to further improve and standardize bank card related services, said Chen Jing, head of the Scientific and Technological Department of the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Included is trial operation and popularization of cash registers with access to taxation services.

By 2005, bank card services will be available at 30 percent of retail businesses, including hotels and catering firms, across China, Chai Hongfeng forecast.

Source: Xinhua