The first Sino-foreign cooperative credit card was finally born, and the domestic credit card market moved from a dormant state to an active one. With the increase in domestic per capita income, economic development and growth gradually being driven by domestic demand, and the increase in residents traveling abroad, the demand for credit cards has increased significantly, which shows that the credit card market has huge potential and an optimistic future. According to international experience, foreign credit card markets have gone through several stages: budding, growth, and maturity, and comprehensive market wars are mainly launched in the mature stage. Although the domestic credit card market has just sprouted, in order to seize the commanding heights of the development of the credit card market since joining the WTO and create competitive advantages, a comprehensive credit card market war has begun. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's first Sino-foreign cooperative dual-currency credit card, which introduces Citibank's management and technology, will soon be issued. As of March 2003, banks that have issued credit cards include Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Guangdong Development Bank, Shenzhen Development Bank, Bank of Shanghai, China Merchants Bank and CITIC Industrial Bank.

According to the business statistics for the third quarter of 2003 released by Visa International, the domestic circulation of Visa international cards reached 1.08 million, more than doubling the amount at the end of September 2002. Among them, dual-currency credit cards have developed rapidly, and the total number has reached more than 500,000, an increase of 8 times compared with the same period in 2002. The total transaction value in the third quarter reached US$381 million, an increase of 1.44 times compared with the same period in 2002. According to statistics, in 2002, 7 of the top 10 domestic cities had a per capita GDP of more than 3,000 US dollars and a population of more than 50 million. Among them, prices in Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are as high as over 4,000-5,000 US dollars respectively. According to the development trends of various cities, the number of cities with a per capita GDP of US$3,000 will increase to 9 in 2003, and the population will increase to 70 million. Judging from international experience, when the per capita GDP reaches US$3,000, which means it is at the world's middle-income level, the quality of residents' consumption will be relatively high, and the scale of customers with increasingly strong demand for credit cards has been formed. In a market situation where peers are increasing their efforts in operating credit card brands and foreign banks are approaching the city, if we do not take advantage of our late-mover advantage to issue cards as soon as possible, not only will existing mature customers apply for cards from other banks in large numbers, but even existing customers will also Become a customer of another bank. Driven by the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, both Beijing and Shanghai have introduced policies and measures to support the development of the bank card industry. This move will more rapidly promote the development of the credit card market in the city and surrounding cities. Therefore, major domestic commercial banks are gearing up to compete in the fiercely competitive credit card market.

According to statistics, as of June 2003, there were 53,000 networked ATM machines and 300,000 networked POS machines in 100 cities across the country, making it easier for cardholders to withdraw funds in different places and across banks. and consumption. UnionPay is promoting ATM inter-bank transfers and Internet inter-bank transfer services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, etc., which will make it easier for cardholders to repay their debts through transfers from accounts in other banks. China's consumer credit started in the mid-1980s. Some commercial banks took the lead in launching personal housing loan business in some large and medium-sized cities. However, due to constraints from various factors such as the level of economic development, market system, and consumption concepts, the development of consumer credit has been slow. , by the end of 1997, the scale of national consumer credit was only 17.2 billion yuan. Since 1998, China's macroeconomic and financial situation has undergone great changes, and consumer credit has entered a rapid growth track. Not only has the total volume increased rapidly, but the varieties have also increased. As of the end of 2002, the balance of consumer credit was 1,068.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1,051.2 billion yuan or 62 times over the end of 1997; the proportion of consumer credit in various loans increased from less than 0.23 to 8.

According to the business statistics for the third quarter of 2003 released by Visa International, Visa International commissioned a third-party research agency to conduct a survey on the ownership and ownership of credit cards and other financial products in the four cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Conduct usage research.

The survey results show that the dual-currency revolving credit card market contains huge business opportunities and potential. Credit cards are mainly used for dining and entertainment consumption, as well as shopping in large shopping malls and supermarkets. Credit card holders are mainly young and middle-aged professionals, and their personal and family incomes are above average. An important finding in the survey is that domestic consumers have begun to accept the concept of credit card consumption and have shown great interest in owning credit cards. More than 80% of the respondents believe that holding a credit card is very important in modern life. At present, the main obstacles hindering the development of the domestic credit card market are:

1. The handling fee is too high. In order to pay less taxes and fees, stores require customers to pay cash as much as possible, so that they can avoid billing and save money. Pay the bank a fee. Although the People's Bank of China has regulations on handling fees, which range from 1 to 4 percent of sales according to industry, this is not the same as foreign unified standards, and the rates are much higher than abroad. Moreover, the bank card associations in each city use this regulation as a reference to set charging standards based on local conditions. Sometimes they are higher than the regulations, causing stores to be reluctant to accept them and customers to be reluctant to use them.

2. Most merchants are unwilling to spend money to install credit card systems and pay fees to banks. Banks need to spend a certain amount of time convincing merchants to accept credit card systems.

3. Credit cards in the south are not yet accessible in the north, and credit card acceptance in small and medium-sized cities is not high.

4. Many domestic banks are burdened with heavy non-performing loans. If they encounter credit card debt defaults again, they will be miserable. According to relevant sources from the People's Bank of China, although there are currently no accurate statistics, it is estimated that the economic losses caused to banks due to malicious overdrafts are more than 100 million yuan.

5. Banks and other card issuers often have lax attitudes and inappropriate behaviors in the process of reviewing applications and issuing cards. In the credit card war and under the pressure of marketing, banks have also relaxed their card issuance review system, and there are varying degrees of loopholes in the card issuance process. In addition, the country has not yet established a complete personal credit reporting system, and this card issuance procedure will bring huge risks. For example, the credit card crisis of South Korea's LG Credit Card Company is the best example.

6. Currently, there is only one domestic credit card system network company, UnionPay. Under the oligopoly, the market not only lacks the proper competitive environment, but it is also not a good thing for the nascent Chinese credit card market.