Visa has secured approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to establish a bank card clearing business in mainland China, marking a significant step in the US payments giant’s long-running effort to enter a market dominated by domestic operators and tightly regulated financial infrastructure.
The approval, announced by Visa on Tuesday, comes as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepare for another meeting, expected at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen. The timing has drawn attention to the potential role of financial market access in the broader effort to manage economic and commercial relations between the two countries.
“This marks an important milestone toward the company serving China’s domestic payments market,” Visa said in a statement.
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Visa Chief Executive Ryan McInerney said the company was looking forward to completing the remaining regulatory steps needed to begin domestic operations.
“For more than 40 years, Visa has been an active contributor to China’s dynamic payments landscape,” McInerney said. “We look forward to taking the necessary steps in the process, pursuant to the PBOC’s regulations, to begin operating domestically in China.”
The approval could give Visa a route into a market where its international network has long played a limited role in domestic transactions. However, regulatory approval is only one stage of the process, and the company will still need to satisfy applicable requirements before beginning operations.
The decision also arrives against a backdrop of renewed diplomatic engagement. McInerney joined Trump’s business delegation to Beijing in May and became chair of the US-China Business Council in June. He also led a trip to Beijing in early September.
George Chen, partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group, said the timing was notable given the expected meeting between the two presidents.
“Beijing chose to approve visa’s license just ahead of the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Shenzhen next month, where Xi [Jinping] and Trump are expected to meet again,” Chen said. “The move suggests that Beijing is keen to demonstrate tangible progress for American businesses before Trump’s next visit to China.”
The timing may provide a positive signal for US businesses seeking greater access to China, although the approval alone does not establish a broader change in Beijing’s approach to foreign financial institutions.
A Long-Running Effort to Enter a Tightly Controlled Market
Visa’s application for a domestic bank card clearing business dates to May 2020, when the company said it submitted its request to the PBOC. China’s financial system has historically favored domestic payment networks and maintained close regulatory control over financial services and cross-border capital flows.
The distinction between domestic and international transactions has been central to Visa’s position in the country. The company has worked with Chinese banks to issue dual-branded cards that use China’s UnionPay network for domestic transactions and Visa’s network for payments overseas. That arrangement has allowed Visa to maintain a presence in the Chinese payments ecosystem without operating its own clearing network for ordinary domestic card transactions.
In January, Visa said cards issued in mainland China could be linked to Apple Pay for overseas use. That service illustrates the company’s established role in facilitating international payments, but domestic clearing approval opens a different commercial opportunity: processing transactions within China’s own market.
Trump said after his May visit to Beijing that he had raised Visa’s request for market access. Following the September summit, China said it would approve applications from all foreign financial institutions to operate in the country.
Visa’s approval therefore comes amid indications that Beijing is willing to advance at least some outstanding applications from overseas financial services companies. Whether that translates into a wider, sustained expansion of foreign participation will depend on the implementation of regulatory decisions and the conditions attached to individual licenses.
However, Visa’s entry into domestic clearing would potentially reduce its dependence on arrangements involving local partners and allow it to compete more directly in a market with enormous transaction volumes. But the opportunity is complicated by China’s distinctive payments landscape, where bank cards face strong competition from mobile wallets.
MasterCard and American Express Have Already Secured Entry
Visa is not the first major US card network to obtain regulatory clearance for domestic payment processing in China. American Express was the first, receiving its processing license in June 2020 after obtaining the PBOC’s approval in 2018. Its entry established a precedent for foreign card networks seeking permission to operate through China’s regulated clearing system.
MasterCard followed through a joint venture in China, which began processing payments in 2024. The venture had received the PBOC’s approval to begin preparations for bank card clearing in February 2020.
Visa’s latest approval brings it closer to competing with those operators in a market where regulatory permission is necessary but not sufficient to secure commercial success.
The experiences of American Express and MasterCard also show that market entry can involve a lengthy process between initial regulatory approval, operational preparations and the start of payment processing. Visa has not yet announced when its domestic clearing business will begin operations.
Its eventual performance will depend on how widely Chinese banks, merchants and consumers adopt its services, as well as the commercial arrangements it establishes with local financial institutions.
Even with regulatory approval, Visa faces a market in which traditional bank cards are not the primary method for many everyday consumer transactions.
Mobile payments dominate much of China’s retail economy, largely through Tencent’s WeChat and Alipay, operated by Ant, an affiliate of Alibaba. These platforms are embedded in daily activities ranging from retail purchases to transport and online services.
Their established user bases and integration with China’s digital ecosystem could make it difficult for Visa to build a significant domestic business simply by extending its global card model into the country.
Visa’s strongest opportunities may depend on partnerships with local banks and merchants, the services it can offer alongside existing payment methods, and whether it can identify customer segments underserved by current systems. Regulatory access gives the company a potential route into domestic clearing, but it does not guarantee that consumers or merchants will shift their payment behavior.
The company will also have to operate within China’s regulatory framework, which gives authorities considerable influence over financial infrastructure and the activities of foreign payment providers.
The commercial implications will become clearer once Visa completes the remaining regulatory steps and begins processing domestic transactions.