Standard Chartered launches credit cards on Chinese mainland

Standard Chartered Bank China launched a credit card business today, the second Western bank to issue credit cards on China's mainland without a local partner.

The UK-based lender launched yuan UnionPay cards and US dollar Visa cards on the mainland.

The yuan card can only be used within China while the Visa card can only be used overseas due the chips used in each.

Anil TS, global head of retail products at Standard Chartered, said: "With the rise of the affluent Chinese and their growing purchasing power, the adoption and usage of credit cards by Chinese consumers is rapidly increasing. Our newly launched credit cards are designed to address the emerging lifestyle needs of Chinese consumers including travel and international payments."

US-based Citi launched credit cards on the mainland in 2012.