American Express is one step closer to entering China’s 190 trillion yuan payment market after the central bank accepted its application.
The People’s Bank of China announced acceptance of the application for a bank card clearing business on its official social media account, according to a «Bloomberg» report, though it did not disclose any additional details. American Express will have an opportunity to tap into the world’s largest mobile transaction market estimated to have reached 190 trillion yuan ($27.3 trillion) in 2018, according to iResearch.
This is a key development as U.S. access to China’s payment network has been a point of contention in the ongoing trade dispute. The report adds that the Chinese delegation plans to sign the first phase of the trade deal in Washington on January 15, citing unnamed sources.
Market Opening
In 2015, China opened its bank card clearing market to foreign players but in practice has been slow to actually spur competition currently still dominated by state-owned UnionPay. The first foreign company to start preparations for the business was American Express in 2018 through a joint venture with Chines fintech firm LianLian.
But elsewhere, China is beginning to demonstrate greater commitment to opening up its markets, particularly in the financial sector. Ongoing liberalization has attracted interest from global financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Nomura, BlackRock and UBS.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-09/amex-moves-step-closer-to-entering-china-s-27-trillion-market
