China gives green light to Visa for local clearing organisation after years-long wait

Visa has been granted approval to begin preparations for entering China's domestic bank card clearing business, following in the footsteps of competitors Mastercard and American Express. The company's CEO, Ryan McInerney, expressed gratitude for the support of US and Chinese leaders in maintaining a stable and constructive relationship between the two economic powerhouses.

Visa's Beijing unit received the green light from the People's Bank of China, allowing it to complete preparatory work within a year before applying to commence operations and obtain a clearing business licence. This marks the culmination of Visa's years-long pursuit to enter the country's massive payments market, valued at US$144 trillion (S$184 trillion).

The approval also ends years of competition with other foreign players, with Mastercard receiving approval in 2020 and American Express' joint venture obtaining the necessary licence several months later. The push for entry into China's domestic clearing market has been a significant point of contention in the broader trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.

In 2026, US President Donald Trump mentioned Visa's request during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, with the two leaders later extending a trade truce. China's approach to the sector began in June 2015, when it allowed foreign bank-card clearing providers to apply for licences by establishing local units or through acquisitions, aiming to break the state-run China UnionPay monopoly.

Despite the approval, Visa enters a vastly different market from the one it initially sought to enter. Today, China's payments ecosystem is dominated by mobile platforms Alipay and WeChat Pay, which have largely supplanted traditional card networks and become the primary channels for everyday transactions. As of the end of 2025, there were 10.2 billion bank cards in circulation in China, with a transaction value of 963.6 trillion yuan (S$184 trillion).