BEA issues 1st RMB debit card

Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia is in the spotlight. It has become the first overseas bank to issue yuan-denominated debit cards on the Chinese mainland.

Bank of East Asia signed a strategic cooperative agreement with China UnionPay (Photo: CCTV.com)

Bank of East Asia signed a strategic cooperative agreement with China UnionPay on Tuesday afternoon, making itself the first overseas lender to issue yuan-denominated debit card in the mainland. The bank has issued three kinds of cards. All of them can operate at any ATM machine and Point of Sales terminal with China UnionPay marks.

Li Kwok-po, chairman & CEO of Bank of East Asia, said, "There are three cards depending on the deposit."

Foreign banks are required under Chinese rules to locate IT support and data centers for card operations in a mainland city, rather than operating via offshore data centers. BEA says its data center for the card business is based in Shenzhen.

Only locally incorporated banks are allowed to apply to issue debit cards in the mainland. Foreign banks are otherwise limited to issuing co-branded credit cards through local partners.