Hang Seng to deliver a debit card next Friday

By Zhang Fengming  |   2009-1-10  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HANG Seng Bank will launch a yuan debit card next Friday to be the fifth overseas bank offering this service in a move to win more Chinese mainland clients.

The bank is also the first overseas bank on the mainland to offer a debit card which does not require a minimum deposit.

The Hong Kong-based bank has joined China UnionPay Co network, the country's central bank card processor, it said yesterday. Any card carrying a UnionPay logo can be used at Hang Seng's ATMs on the mainland.

Its counterparts -- HSBC, Citi, Standard Chartered and the Bank of East Asia -- have already issued yuan-denominated debit cards on the mainland. BEA was the first overseas bank to offer a yuan credit card on the mainland.

More overseas banks are venturing into the Chinese mainland's yuan-backed debit card market as a step toward providing more services.

What means more to some banks is the next stage where they offer credit cards which generate income from overdrafts or installments.

Hang Seng plans to increase its outlets on the mainland to between 45 and 48 by next year, and to 50 by 2010, the bank said.