HSBC Going Solo in China Credit Cards Boosts Expansion Plan
- Bank has ended card venture with Bocom, Asia head says
- HSBC would be just one of three foreign card issuers in China
Stuart Gulliver.
Photographer: Christophe Morin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
HSBC Holdings Plc winning approval to start a credit-card business in China’s $1 trillion market offers Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver added flexibility in his push into the nation’s retail banking and wealth-management industries.
The approval from Chinese authorities came as HSBC ended a card venture with Bank of Communications Co., the bank’s Asia-Pacific head Peter Wong said in a weekend interview, paving the way for the U.K. company to join Citigroup Inc. and Bank of East Asia Ltd. as the only foreign credit-card issuers on the mainland. Wong didn’t say when HSBC won the nod from regulators, or provide any specifics on how the business will be rolled out.