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Competitor Mastercard received approval to establish its bank card clearing business in 2020, and Amex’s joint venture in the country was approved to start bank card clearing services several months after that (Photo: Reuters)
By Paige Smith
Visa Inc. received approval to begin preparations to establish a domestic bank card clearing business in China, teeing up the firm to potentially follow rivals Mastercard Inc. and American Express Co. in serving the nation’s massive payments market.
The approval marks an “important milestone” toward the company serving China’s domestic payments market, Visa said in a statement.
“We greatly appreciate the important role of the leaders of the United States and China in pursuing a constructive and strategically stable relationship between the world’s largest economies,” Visa Chief Executive Officer Ryan McInerney said in the statement. “For more than 40 years, Visa has been an active contributor to China’s dynamic payments landscape. We look forward to taking the necessary steps in the process, pursuant to the PBOC’s regulations, to begin operating domestically in China.”
Competitor Mastercard received approval to establish its bank card clearing business in 2020, and Amex’s joint venture in the country was approved to start bank card clearing services several months after that.
Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said he brought up Visa’s request for access to mainland China’s market during a meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing. Visa’s CEO McInerney accompanied Trump on that May trip to China.
First Published: Oct 13 2026 | 10:12 AM IST
