The People's Bank of China has approved three companies, including Visa, to prepare to establish bank card clearing institutions.

PANews October 13 news: The People's Bank of China announced today that it has officially issued administrative licensing decisions to Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., LianTong (Hangzhou) Technical Services Co., Ltd., and Mastercard NetsUnion Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., granting the three companies approval to carry out preparatory work for bank card clearing institutions. It is reported that Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise established in China by the international card organization Visa; LianTong (Hangzhou) is the joint venture institution of American Express in China; and Mastercard NetsUnion (Beijing) is the joint venture company of Mastercard in China.

PANews, October 13 news: The People's Bank of China announced today that it has officially issued administrative licensing decisions to Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., LianTong (Hangzhou) Technology Services Co., Ltd., and Mastercard NetsUnion Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., granting the three companies approval to carry out preparatory work for bank card clearing institutions.

It is reported that Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise established in China by the international card organization Visa; LianTong (Hangzhou) is the joint venture institution of American Express in China; and Mastercard NetsUnion (Beijing) is the joint venture company of Mastercard in China. According to the requirements, the approved institutions must complete preparatory work within one year. After completing preparations, they must submit an application to the People's Bank of China to commence operations. Only after approval by the central bank together with the National Financial Regulatory Administration may they be issued a bank card clearing business license and formally begin operations.

Industry observers believe that the simultaneous approval of preparatory qualifications for the three major international card organizations in China marks a further deepening of the opening-up of China's bank card clearing market.