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ICBC Issues First "Real' Credit Card
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, issued its first credit card Tuesday in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Called Peony credit card, the card allows holders to overdraw on their accounts to as high as 50,000 yuan (US$6,025) and repay it in 25 days without paying the interest.
"This is a real credit card that fits in with the international standard," said Xie Duyang, ICBC vice-president at the inauguration ceremony held yesterday in Chengdu, the provincial capital.
Prior to these credit cards being issued, all of ICBC's cards required customers to make a deposit before they spend.
China's first genuine credit card was issued by the Guangdong Development Bank in Ningbo of East China's Zhejiang Province.
The first nationwide credit card was developed by the CITIC Industrial Bank recently, available at its 230 outlets, according to CITIC bank Vice-President Yao Dingyi.
The new ICBC credit card will increase the public's awareness about credit-based consumption, and boost the banks' consumer loan businesses, said Xie.
As China comes closer to becoming part of the World Trade Organization, the renovation of bank cards can draw domestic banks closer to their international counterparts, he said.
The new credit card will be issued in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou in July and throughout the whole country later, said Xie.
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