China Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2028

China Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2028

Summary

GlobalData’s ‘China Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2028' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Chinese cards and payments industry, including -

• Current and forecast values for each market in the Chinese cards and payments industry, including debit, credit and charge cards.
• Detailed insights into payment instruments including cards, credit transfers, cash, direct debits and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.
• Ecommerce market analysis.
• Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Chinese cards and payments industry.
• Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards.
• Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
• The competitive landscape of the Chinese cards and payments industry.

GlobalData’s ‘China Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2028' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Chinese cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cards, credit transfers, cash, direct debits and cheques during the review-period (2020-24e).

The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2024e-28f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.

The report brings together GlobalData’s research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.

Key Highlights

• China’s debit card market is dominated by domestic scheme provider CUP. However, In February 2020, the PBOC granted principal approval for Mastercard’s joint venture with NetsUnion Clearing Corporation to establish a domestic bank card clearing institution in China. In November 2023, Mastercard received formal approval from the PBOC and the National Administration of Financial Regulation to commence domestic bank card clearing operations. Starting from May 2024, Mastercard began issuing its debit cards and initiated payment processing in China. It is offering a range of debit cards in the country, including Standard, Platinum, and World variants.
• To promote the acceptance of card payments among small merchants, Alipay launched Tap to Pay on Android phones in July 2024. This feature allows business users to accept contactless payments on NFC-enabled Android and iPhone devices. It is currently available in major cities across China and accessible to over 2,300 brands and merchants nationwide. Additionally, Alipay offers Dragonfly, a facial recognition-powered POS system that enables consumers to make payments at merchant stores by smiling into a camera integrated with a POS terminal.
• Despite strong payment card penetration, the Chinese payment ecosystem is dominated by mobile wallets. This is due to the early and widespread adoption of mobile payment platforms such as Alipay and Tenpay. These platforms offer unparalleled convenience, security, and acceptance, overshadowing traditional payment methods. To encourage card usage, the Payment & Clearing Association of China is currently in negotiations with international scheme providers Mastercard and Visa. The aim is to reduce their merchant interchange fee from the current range of 2-3% to 1.5%. If agreed, this move is expected to encourage greater adoption of payment cards among local merchants in the country.

Scope

• Card market size in terms of number of cards, value and volume of transactions in China along with detailed card segmentation of debit, credit and charge cards available in the country.
• Market sizing and analysis of major payment instruments including cards, credit transfers, cash, direct debits and cheques.
• Payment market trends and growth for both historical and forecast period
• Competitor analysis with detailed insights into leading card issuers and schemes.
• Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
• A detailed snapshot of country's key alternative payment brands.

Reasons to Buy

• Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Chinese cards and payments industry and each market within it.
• Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the China cards and payments industry.
• Assess the competitive dynamics in the China cards and payments industry.
• Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in China.
• Gain insights into key regulations governing the China cards and payments industry.