Visa, a US-based payments company, said on October 13 that it had received approval from the People’s Bank of China for its application to prepare.

This allows Visa to begin preparations to set up a domestic bankcard clearing institution in China.

However, the approval is a preparatory step, not authorization for Visa to start domestic clearing operations. The company said it would continue working to complete the process.

China opened its bankcard clearing market to foreign firms in 2015, ending China UnionPay’s monopoly over renminbi-denominated bankcard clearing. At the time, the market was described as the world’s largest by number of cards and transaction value.

An American Express joint venture won final approval to launch bankcard clearing services in China in 2020. Mastercard’s joint venture received approval in November 2023.

Visa said it has participated in China’s payments market for more than 40 years.

🔗 Source: Visa

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