Visa Clears China Hurdle, but Domestic Card Launch Still Awaits

Visa won approval to prepare a domestic bank card clearing business in China, but it cannot operate there yet.

The decision starts a regulatory process rather than granting Visa permission to process domestic payments. Visa must finish its preparations within one year, then apply to open for business.

The People's Bank of China said its administrative approval allows Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co Ltd to begin the preparatory work. Visa's announcement came on Tuesday.

Visa established Visa Information Technology (Beijing) in China as a foreign-invested enterprise. The approval therefore concerns a company already established in the country, rather than an immediate authorisation for Visa's global network to begin domestic processing.

Visa's preparation period is the first formal stage. After it ends, the company can apply to commence operations, the central bank said.

The People's Bank of China and China's top banking regulator will then examine the application. If they approve it, they will issue a bank card clearing business licence. The current decision does not settle whether that application will succeed.

Visa described the decision as a step towards entering China's domestic payments market, saying in a company statement: "This marks an important milestone toward the company serving China's domestic payments market".

Ryan McInerney, Visa's chief executive, said the company would follow the central bank's rules while moving through the process. "We look forward to taking the necessary steps in the process, pursuant to the PBOC's regulations, to begin operating domestically in China."

China's bank cards processed 4.6 trillion transactions in 2025. Their combined value was 963.60 trillion yuan, according to central bank data.

At the end of 2025, the number of bank cards in circulation reached 10.2 billion. The figures show the scale of the card system that Visa wants to enter, although everyday consumer payments increasingly take place through mobile platforms.

Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate daily payments in China. Their services have largely bypassed traditional card networks and become the main channels for everyday transactions.

That means Visa's proposed role would be different from the role of mobile wallets. It would seek to clear domestic bank-card transactions, while mobile platforms remain major ways for consumers to pay.

Visa said it already works with Chinese banks on dual-branded cards. UnionPay is used for transactions inside China on those cards, while Visa is used for payments made overseas.

Visa also said in January that cards issued in mainland China could be linked to Apple Pay for use overseas. That existing activity does not amount to a domestic Visa clearing operation.

China signalled in June 2015 that foreign bank card clearing providers could seek licences. They could do so by establishing local units or through acquisitions.

The opening created a route for foreign networks to challenge the position of domestic payment infrastructure. China UnionPay remains the established domestic card network, while Alipay and WeChat Pay handle much of the country's daily mobile spending.

1. June 2015Foreign providers get a route to apply

   China says foreign bank card clearing providers can seek licences through local units or acquisitions.

2. 2018American Express receives preparation approval

   The People's Bank of China gives an earlier approval before American Express receives its processing licence.

3. February 2020Mastercard receives preparation approval

   Mastercard's Chinese joint venture is approved to prepare its bank card clearing business.

4. June 2020American Express receives a processing licence

   American Express becomes the first of the foreign providers in the pack to receive a processing licence.

5. 2024Mastercard begins processing

   Mastercard's Chinese joint venture starts processing payments after its earlier preparation approval.

6. Within one yearVisa must finish preparations

   Visa can then apply to open for business, subject to review by Chinese regulators.

7. NovemberAPEC meeting in Shenzhen

   Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are scheduled to meet again at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

Mastercard's Chinese joint venture received approval to prepare in 2020 and began processing payments in 2024. The People's Bank of China also approved the venture, which partners with local clearinghouse NetsUnion Clearing Corp.

American Express received its processing licence in June 2020 after an earlier approval in 2018. Its Chinese joint venture was later cleared to start bank card clearing services that year.

Visa is therefore at an earlier point in the process than both rivals described in the pack. It has approval to prepare, but not the final permission to process domestic payments.

Visa previously said it applied to the People's Bank of China in May 2020 to operate a bank card clearing institution. Local media reports put the application in 2017, so accounts differ on when Visa first applied.

The approval follows a period of high-level contact between US and Chinese officials and business leaders. In May, McInerney joined the business delegation to Beijing led by US President Donald Trump and became chair of the US-China Business Council in June.

McInerney also led a trip to Beijing in early September. Trump later said he had raised Visa's request for access to China's market after his Beijing trip in May.

After the September summit, China pledged to approve applications submitted by all foreign financial institutions seeking to operate in the country.

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump later met in Washington in late September and agreed to extend a trade truce. They are scheduled to talk again in person at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in November.

George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group who chairs its digital practice, linked Visa's approval to that next meeting, saying: "Beijing chose to approve visa's license just ahead of the APEC Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen next month, where Xi [Jinping] and Trump are expected to meet again".

Chen said the move could show progress for US companies before Trump's next visit to China. "The move suggests that Beijing is keen to demonstrate tangible progress for American businesses before Trump's next visit to China."

The timing is Chen's assessment of Beijing's intentions, not a stated reason from the People's Bank of China. The central bank's published approval sets out the preparation process and the later licence review.

Visa's preparation work must be completed before it can submit the next application. Chinese regulators may approve or reject that application, and the pack does not establish which decision they will take.

The future ownership structure is also unconfirmed. Sources told Reuters that Visa hoped to secure a 100 percent ownership stake in a future joint venture licence, but the approval does not confirm that arrangement.

The next formal step is Visa's one-year preparation period. The next dated event in the pack is the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen in November, where Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are expected to meet again.