The U.S. payment card company Mastercard in an announcement last Friday said that, in a bid to reach out the Chinese market which is set to be the biggest bank card market by 2020, it is planning to apply for a bankcard clearing license in the country and was in dialogues to find ways out.
In order to be able to access the China’s domestic market, Master will go on putting all of its efforts to get the required license, and is planning to be present another application for bankcard clearing license very soon, said the company in a statement on its website.
In June 2018, an application, which was previously submitted in 2017 at China’s central bank, was voluntarily withdrew by the Mastercard, reported State newspaper Beijing News on Friday, citing unnamed source at the central bank.
Ling Hai, Mastercard’s Co-President of Asia Pacific, said in a public statement that for Mastercard, China is an important market and for a long-term growth and development of the overall payments ecosystem, we are looking forward to be working with Chinese government as well as local partners.
After American Express, which succeeded to won the preliminary approval from People’s Bank of China in November last year allowing it to build its payment network in the country, Mastercard will be the latest of the U.S. companies that are extending their footprints over Chinese markets.
UnionPay is a state-controlled consortium which has been enjoying monopoly on all yuan payment cards issued and used in China, and previously, in order to get access to the country’s payment network, it was an obligatory requirement for foreign card companies to be partnered with the UnionPay.
Mastercard, Apple and Visa have been counted as its partners by UnionPay for payment services in China. And as affiliates of the UnionPay, its cards can be used as Amex, Visa or Mastercard in countries abroad.
