International bank card organizations such as Mastercard and American Express have accelerated efforts aimed at optimizing payment services in China, in order to satisfy ever-growing payment needs in the deepening opening-up process of the world's second-largest economy.

Motivated by the advantages of operating in the large-scale Chinese market, global bank card companies have been constantly enhancing their services, ranging from expansion of the scope of cooperating merchants to the upgrading of payment limits on merchandise.

In the latest move to expand its business layout in China, Mastercard NetsUnion Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Mastercard NetsUnion), a joint venture of Mastercard and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, has introduced a brand new bank card called China Mastercard, taking this step just over a month after it officially launched its bank card clearing operations on May 9.

Currently, China Mastercard holders not only have the ability to shop at more than 100 million merchants around the world, but can also add the card to Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alipay, WeChat, JD.com and Meituan as well as overseas digital wallets, said Zheng Xiaofei, CEO of Mastercard NetsUnion.

In addition, the company has also cooperated with more than 30 digital wallet platforms in expanding shopping scenarios for its customers from daily consumption to merchandise such as automobiles and real estate.

In the future, the company plans to promote contactless payment methods while continue to cooperate with digital wallet platforms and bank card issuers in order to improve the convenience and security of its payment services, Zheng said.

"We are very optimistic about the Chinese market which is large enough, and we are confident to do business well here," said Ling Hai, who is chairman of Mastercard NetsUnion. Ling added that the joint venture will provide more differentiated and refined services and deliver expanded technology relevant to the bank card clearing business.

Ling believes that there are quite a few favorable conditions for developing businesses in China at the moment. On the one hand, booming international tourism and e-commerce activities have promoted more vigorous demand for cross-border payments in the Chinese market.

On the other hand, the time is right for Mastercard NetsUnion to beef up its business layout in China, as the country is building a payment ecosystem that is fully-accessible, diversified and "more compatible with the rest of the world."

Mastercard is the second overseas bank card clearing institution to enter the Chinese market, following American Express. Express (Hangzhou) Technology Service Co. Ltd., a joint venture of American Express and Lianlian in China, has cooperated with a number of banks and non-bank payment institutions to expand the scope of businesses accepting American Express bank cards in the Chinese market.

Notably, a number of world-famous hotels, duty-free shops, and catering businesses have already accepted domestic and overseas versions of American Express bank cards.

The opening up of the bank card clearing market is an important part of the opening up of China's financial industry. In recent years, China's financial regulators have set equal standards for foreign and domestic bank card clearing institutions in terms of setting-up conditions and procedures as well as business management, while making it easier for such institutions to apply for licenses.

Investing in and supporting the business expansion of the joint venture are important steps in promoting the diversified development of the payment and clearing markets in China, Luo Yanfeng said.

Luo, Party secretary of NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, shareholder of Mastercard NetsUnion, noted that the investment is also "a concrete manifestation of implementing high-level opening-up policies in China's financial industry."

With a slew of opening-up measures introduced, foreign bank card clearing institutions can now provide services related to renminbi bank cards by setting up commercial entities in China, instead of having to cooperate with domestic clearing institutions in conducting relevant business activities.

Improvement of the payment system is the foundation of the development of China's financial system, said Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Institution for Finance and Development.

He noted that allowing overseas bank card clearing institutions to enter the domestic market is conducive to constructing a reasonable and stable market structure featuring effective competition.

"The active expansion pace of Mastercard NetsUnion's businesses in China shows our determination to continue to deepen the Chinese market," Ari Sarker, president for Asia Pacific at Mastercard said, adding that Mastercard has witnessed and participated in the exciting development process in China, where a more and more "silky" payment experience has benefited everyone.

The company is looking forward to providing an even better payment experience to Chinese consumers in the future, Sarker said.

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