Bank of China and American Express co-launched two new single-network credit cards in Beijing on Monday, a move intended to further tap the fast-growing cross-border payment market for middle- and high-end customers in the second-largest economy.
Both cards have a trendy design for travel lovers when making overseas trips or doing cross-border online shopping, according to a note American Express sent to the Global Times.
"In the past four years, the issuing speed of our cards has witnessed growth of several times, and China has been one of the growth engines in Asia and even in the world," Dave Keung, managing director of American Express China, told the Global Times.
Although the card volume can not compete with peers such as VISA and MasterCard, consumption per card still ranks first across the world, Keung added, without disclosing exact data.
However, given the growth of online payment tools in China, more card issuers face pressure.
Data from the People's Bank of China, the central bank, showed that the network payment business of non-bank payment agencies including WeChat and Alipay in 2016 reached 99.27 trillion yuan ($14.38 trillion), double the value of the previous year.
When asked about competition from online payment tools, Keung said that the company has had cooperation with Jack Ma Yun, the founder of domestic e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, but the managing director declined to give more details.
"We would like to cooperate with those payment tools instead of compete," he said.
"Payments are only a tool. Only by involving more customers and shops, can the cake get bigger," according to Keung.
