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Bank card business continues to boom in China

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-06-04 17:37

Bank card usage in China continued to boom last year as each Chinese holds 1.32 bank cards on average in the wallet, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the country's banking watchdog.

Related readings:  Bank card usage shot up in Spring Festival holiday  Chinese bank card business up 70% in value in New Year holiday  Bank card spending rises 60%  Migrant workers enjoy special bank card service

In its 2008 annual report, the commission said bank cards, e-banking and derivatives product trading developed steadily last year. As of the end of 2008, financial institutions had issued 1.78 billion bank cards, up 21 percent from a year earlier. Bank card transaction volume also grew 27 percent to 111.3 trillion yuan in 2008.

Total financial product sales of 83 domestic and foreign financial institutions last year amounted to 3.87 trillion yuan, increasing 372.3 percent over a year before, with the book balance of personal financial products at 823.3 billion yuan and the book loss ratio less than 1.7 percent.

The report also said China had issued 66.87 billion yuan's worth of credit asset-backed securities products by the end of last year. So far, these products have included more asset types and have drawn more institutional participation.