Visa, the global digital payments giant, said on Tuesday it has received approval from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to begin formal preparations to establish a domestic bankcard clearing institution in the country.

The approval, announced by Visa in a statement, marks an important milestone towards the company serving China's domestic payments market.

“The approval of our application to prepare marks a significant step forward in Visa’s long-standing commitment to China," said chief executive Ryan McInerney.

"We greatly appreciate the important role of the leaders of the United States and China in pursuing a constructive and strategically stable relationship between the world’s largest economies,” he added.

Visa said China is one of the world's most advanced and dynamic digital payments markets and that it looks forward to bringing its innovation, security and reliability to Chinese consumers and businesses.

The PBOC said Visa must complete the preparatory work within one year before submitting a formal application to commence operations.

The central bank and the National Financial Regulatory Administration will jointly review the application and, if approved, issue a bankcard clearing business licence.

Gary Ng, senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis, said the move to introduce Visa showed China's willingness to further open up its financial sector.

"Previously, we have seen some of the other competitors of Visa, such as Amex already has its own licence. MasterCard also can operate under joint venture. So, for Visa, it is really another step to put itself at the same level playing foot with the global competitors," he told RTHK.

"But it really depends on whether Visa can compete with other cards at the same footing because there's obviously also UnionPay in the market. And let's not forget beyond cards, China is very reliant on other payment systems like Alipay and WeChat Pay.

"So it is a positive step, but it may not be fully big enough to change the overall picture."

Ng also said the move would facilitate cross-border transactions moving forward.
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Last updated: 2026-10-13 HKT 17:39


Edited by Edmond Fong