People's Bank of China Approves Card Clearing and Settlement Business for Mastercard

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] Chinese banking authorities have granted approval to the US company Mastercard for bank card clearing and settlement operations within China.

On the 11th (local time), the People's Bank of China announced that Mastercard's joint venture in China has been approved to conduct bank card clearing and settlement business. Established in March last year, Mastercard's joint venture will begin preparations to start bank card clearing and settlement operations following the People's Bank's approval. Mastercard stated that it expects to complete preparations within the year, obtain additional approvals, and officially launch its card business.

This approval by the People's Bank of China is interpreted as part of the opening of China's financial market. China has long controlled sectors related to financial infrastructure, including bank card clearing and settlement, but since June 2015, it has relaxed regulations to allow foreign bank card payment companies to obtain licenses through acquisitions or joint ventures with Chinese companies and has been preparing for implementation. The People's Bank also stated in its announcement that "from the perspective of financial market opening, the People's Bank will handle applications related to bank card operations in an open and fair manner."

Some interpret this move as China's effort to implement the terms of the agreement following the signing of the US-China Phase One trade deal. Three weeks ago, China signed the Phase One trade agreement with the US, pledging to further open its financial market to American companies.

Bloomberg News evaluated the People's Bank's approval decision as "demonstrating that China is fulfilling the US-China Phase One agreement to expand financial market opening despite the COVID-19 pandemic." 　

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.