The Blue Book on the Development of China's Bank Card Industry (2024) recently released by the China Banking Association shows that in 2023, the development of China's bank card industry will reach a new level. Various parties in the bank card industry have launched multiple measures to benefit enterprises and the people, meet the diversified payment needs of the real economy, provide support for expanding consumption, and enhance the financial consumption experience. This is the first salary I received after my salary card was processed, with both zero and full amounts, totaling 6230 yuan On December 8, Xiao Chuan, who worked as an intern in an Internet enterprise in Beijing, came to a bank outlet in Zhongguancun to confirm that his salary during the internship had been paid. As a newcomer in the workplace, Ogawa told reporters that opening a salary card has a special meaning in his life, and the process of opening the card also allows him to enjoy high-quality service. According to the "Blue Book on the Development of China's Bank Card Industry (2024)" recently released by the China Banking Association, in 2023, the development of China's bank card industry will reach a new level, with the issuance volume and transaction volume rebounding, and the acceptance market size further expanding. At the same time, various parties in the bank card industry continue to deepen fee reductions and benefits, and have introduced multiple measures that benefit enterprises and the people, in order to support the development of the real economy and enhance the financial consumption experience of the people. With the introduction of a series of policy measures such as promoting consumption and expanding domestic demand, the demand for consumer goods has continued to steadily increase, and the consumer market is gradually recovering. The issuance volume and transaction volume of China's bank card industry have shown a bottoming out and rebounding trend. According to the Blue Book, as of the end of 2023, the total number of bank cards issued was 9.56 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%; Throughout the year, 531.09 billion bank card transactions were completed, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%, with a transaction amount of 107.39 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3%. In September of this year, according to the requirements of the internship company, senior student Ogawa opened a salary card at a bank branch near the school. After understanding his card opening requirements, specific purposes, and subsequent storage plans, the bank staff recommended a debit card suitable for newcomers in the workplace to Ogawa. This debit card is issued to young customers and has all basic financial service functions such as cash deposit and withdrawal, transfer and remittance, payment settlement, scholarship issuance, etc. It can also enjoy a combination of business transaction fees and participate in the "Win Cash Red Envelope" activity. After listening to the detailed introduction of the staff, Ogawa processed the card opening business on the spot. In recent years, the bank card industry has taken active measures in card issuance marketing, actively innovating product designs for various customer groups, meeting their needs from multiple perspectives, and enhancing people's well-being. At the same time, with the increasing demand for overseas tourism, study abroad, and business travel, various parties in the industry have successively launched various overseas payment products and their rights, which are more in line with customers' personalized needs. At present, the card opening business handled mainly focuses on salary cards. Specific factors that affect customer card opening include loan and other business needs, card format, bank branch distance, and whether they hold the bank card Ms. Wu, a customer manager at a certain bank, told reporters that compared to the number of cards opened, banks now value the quality of card issuance more. From the perspective of card usage, customers who can correctly and normally use their cards and do not rent or lend their personal accounts can be considered high-quality customers. The 'small card' leverages the 'big consumption' to unleash the potential of consumption through financial power, and the 'small card' of bank cards plays a significant role. In recent years, major banks have been competing in the credit card market, expanding the application scenarios of credit cards and providing assistance in boosting consumer confidence and stimulating consumption potential. Some banks have increased their product development efforts in specific areas, launching credit card products such as Ctrip co branded cards and China Railway 12306 Changxing cards, providing consumers with practical discounts and convenience for business travel and daily shopping; Some banks carry out activities such as "consumption season" in conjunction with important consumption time periods; Some banks are actively exploring "cross-border integration" and collaborating with online platforms to launch discount promotions for scenic spot ticketing consumption. As products continue to innovate, bank card services are also continuously optimized and upgraded. The Blue Book mentions that in terms of loan installment payments, various parties in the bank card industry actively focus on diversified consumer needs of customers, focusing on consumption scenarios such as home appliances, home decoration, and automobiles, and launching special credit card loan installment discount activities. At the same time, measures such as product innovation and upgrading are taken to meet customers' differentiated needs and improve the level of loan installment services. In recent years, the banking industry has continuously improved its service level to meet the diversified payment needs of the real economy and provide support for expanding consumption. The "Report on the Development of China's Bank Card Industry (2024)" released in August this year shows that China UnionPay will support more than 1200 consumption voucher projects in over 300 cities and counties throughout 2023, leveraging more than 40 billion yuan in consumption and introducing capital vitality to merchants in cultural tourism, catering, department stores and other scenarios. To enhance inclusiveness and provide better services for consumers in payment settlement, in recent years, various parties in the bank card industry have continuously carried out payment settlement optimization and innovation, promoted the interconnection of domestic and foreign payment networks, improved cross-border payment convenience, created a safer and more convenient payment experience, and fully played the basic supporting role of the payment system in promoting high-quality economic development. In March this year, the People's Bank of China held a symposium in Shanghai on "Strengthening the Construction of the Kaki Market and Improving the Kaki Ecology". The meeting pointed out that currently, the development of the bank card industry has entered a critical period of transformation, and it is necessary to comprehensively and deeply analyze the industry development situation, strengthen the construction of the card based market, improve the card based industry ecology, break through the bottlenecks and difficulties in industry development, and continuously enhance the inclusiveness of payment services. In terms of credit cards, the reporter noticed that since last year, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), and several joint-stock banks have issued announcements announcing an increase in credit card repayment tolerance. Cardholders who have not repaid less than 100 yuan in the current period will also be treated as normal full repayment and will not be considered overdue. The "Self discipline Convention for China's Bank Card Industry (Revised 2024 Edition)" released in May this year also mentioned that member units should continue to improve the quality of credit card services, advocate providing "time tolerance services" and "tolerance services" for credit card repayment, and can also provide interest reduction and preferential treatment for the already repaid portion of credit card overdrafts during the interest free repayment period. The macroeconomic recovery trend in our country is expected to continue to stabilize, and residents' jobs and incomes will tend to stabilize, which will create favorable conditions for the high-quality development of credit card business Dong Ximiao, Chief Researcher of China Merchants Association, analyzed that financial consumers should choose credit card products that are suitable for themselves based on their own needs, consume reasonably, and borrow rationally; Commercial banks should also dynamically adjust their strategies, appropriately increase their efforts in organizational structure, personnel allocation, system construction, external cooperation, and explore differentiated positioning of customer groups, strictly manage risks, accelerate the digital transformation of credit cards and innovation of online credit card products, and provide better services for consumers. (New Society)