1. Analysis of the Development and Problems of the Credit Card Business of Regional Institutions in my country

Since the Bank of China issued the first domestic credit card in 1985, the Bank of China Card, the credit card business has experienced its initial development in my country. After the market cultivation stage, it ushered in a rapidly rising development stage. By the end of 2007, the number of credit cards issued in China reached 99.76 million, a year-on-year increase of 69.65%, and the number of users was 31.77 million, a year-on-year increase of 54.22%. Based on the influence of factors such as the gradual strengthening of banks’ promotion efforts, the continuous improvement of the card usage environment, the enhancement of social groups’ awareness of credit cards, the expansion of convenient payment and repayment channels, and the strengthening of banks’ risk control capabilities, China’s credit card market in 2008 The number of users is expected to reach 45 million, and the credit card market size will reach 140 million. While the scale of the credit card business continues to expand, domestic card issuers have increased significantly and competition has become fierce. As of the end of October 2007, there were 15 credit card issuers in China, and the number of credit cards issued has exceeded 50 million. While my country's credit card business is experiencing explosive growth, the credit card business of my country's regional banking institutions (hereinafter referred to as "regional institutions") is in its infancy and is facing fierce market competition.

my country's regional institutions mainly include five types of financial institutions, including urban commercial banks, urban credit cooperatives, rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, and rural credit cooperatives. With the continuous deepening of my country's economic reform, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises has increased significantly, which has created a good market foundation for the development of credit card business of regional institutions. The emergence of credit cards is the product of a certain stage of economic development. China's regional economic development is unbalanced, and the credit card business of rural regional financial institutions is subject to financial and technical constraints. In recent years, the development of credit card business by regional institutions has prominently shown insufficient capital, lack of specialized talents engaged in credit card business, insufficient product and service innovation capabilities, low social recognition of their credit products, few business outlets and relatively few customer resources. , It is difficult to form economies of scale and other problems. At present, many regional banking institutions in my country cannot fully meet the requirements for starting credit card business in terms of capital adequacy ratio, non-performing asset ratio, liquidity, etc. These factors have become "bottlenecks" for the development of their credit card business. In addition, due to business scale and other reasons, regional institutions often lack effective support from card organizations in terms of credit card business and technology. The credit card business of regional institutions still has a low market share compared with the four major commercial banks, China Merchants Bank and Guangdong Development Bank.

2. Implementation strategies for my country’s regional banking institutions to develop credit card business

1. Rely on the UnionPay system to reduce card issuance costs

First of all, China UnionPay has established A powerful new electronic payment service platform, relying on this platform, regional institutions can provide more diversified payment services to their customers to make up for the shortcomings of their insufficient outlets. Secondly, regional banking institutions can entrust third-party professional service agencies to carry out card issuance data processing outsourcing, host hosting and disaster backup services to reduce investment in credit card issuance systems and reduce card issuance costs. At present, there are dozens of domestic banks such as Industrial Bank, Minsheng Bank, Nanjing Commercial Bank, and Ningbo Commercial Bank. Through third-party services, they have solved the problem of excessive one-time investment in credit card issuance systems and effectively reduced credit card operating costs. Thirdly, issuing co-branded cards with local governments, other regional institutions and enterprises will become a trend in the development of credit card business of regional institutions. Regional institutions should strengthen business cooperation with relevant parties and make use of China UnionPay's own various resources to strive to promote the above-mentioned cooperation.

2. Give full play to its own advantages and provide personalized credit card products

Currently, the business outlets of regional institutions in my country account for about half of the number of bank outlets nationwide. They have the characteristics of being close to consumers, which is very important. A large proportion of customers are small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers and rural migrant workers. First of all, the appearance design must show its personalized features. For example, some banks have launched transparent credit cards and photo cards.

The issuance of these credit cards with unique personal imprints can not only differentiate the products, but also further ensure the security of the credit cards. Banks should also pay attention to the establishment and maintenance of brands in credit card marketing, attract consumers by creating brands, and strengthen product differentiation. Secondly, the prerequisite for providing personalized products requires targeted and accurate market segmentation. Regional agencies should design personalized products and formulate corresponding marketing strategies based on the characteristics of each market segment. For example, some banks are currently launching "special services for credit cards for migrant workers", "counter service", "Olympic-themed credit cards", etc., which have all been welcomed.

3. Accelerate technological innovation and improve the credit card service system

Today, bank card customer service has completely relied on computers, networks and communication technologies. First, use IT systems to rectify business personnel and business processes, manage the company's customer resources, and conduct systematic analysis of customer composition and historical transactions. Secondly, explore new card application channels. With the rapid development of the credit card industry, credit card application channels have become diversified. Online card application channels such as the My Love Card website have attracted 13.89 users with their convenience and speed, becoming an important New card application channels. Thirdly, regional institutions operating credit cards have a relatively weak business foundation and relatively limited customer resources, so they should strengthen customer relationship management. To this end, regional agencies should collect market information and customer needs, identify real profitable customers, market them, and provide them with interactive and humanized services, thereby understanding the real needs of customers and improving customer loyalty. , thereby improving the breadth and depth of services.

4. Improve the governance structure and carry out professional and intensive operations

First of all, professional development provides conditions for regional institutions to enter the card issuance market without having to make huge investments. For example, in 2002 America's First Data Company, which entered the Chinese market, China UnionPay Data Services Co., Ltd. established in 2003, and other outsourcing service companies began to provide banks with services in areas such as card printing, bill printing, data entry, sales agency, and account collection. Serve. Secondly, intensive management is the development trend of my country’s credit card business. At present, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Guangfa Bank have set up their own credit card centers, which have been initially realized by introducing foreign software and hardware equipment and expert teams. It provides centralized batch processing of credit card business from card application to authorization, settlement and other services. All in all, our country's regional institutions should seize the opportunities of reform and reorganization, further improve the governance structure, establish a good operation and management mechanism, and promote the comprehensive and rapid development of the credit card business.