InfoAnda - Visa, MC still face hurdles in China after WTO ruling |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Pakistani Taliban deputy chief says takes command | 21 August 2009
Essay: Cronkite and the voice of authority gone | 19 July 2009
Gunfire at home of US teachers in Indonesia's Aceh | 23 November 2009

Jackman to play legendary showman Barnum: report | 5 August 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Visa, MC still face hurdles in China after WTO ruling |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Aerospace & Defense Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Campaign Polling Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Anatole Kaletsky Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Mark Leonard Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Olympics Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (1) Counterparties: Today's Best Links "Everyone Only Wants Temps" Mother Jones reports on America's new perma-temp labor boom. Temps get paid less than their full-time counterparts, no benefits and are easily dispensable. Read more at Counterparties Goldman Sachs is about to launch a bank (for rich people and corporations) The mystery behind Mitt Romney's IRA Get Counterparties by email! Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read North Korean leader cements control over army 17 Jul 2012 Murder suspect kills self after stealing plane in Utah 17 Jul 2012 Facebook shares slide as user growth in question 17 Jul 2012 Suspect charged in Alabama bar shooting that wounded 17 | 17 Jul 2012 Bernanke offers gloomy view but few new hints on easing 17 Jul 2012 Discussed 119 Obama allies tell Romney to ”quit whining” about Bain attacks 97 Syria hit by diplomatic defection as U.N. battles divisions 86 World outrage at Syria ”massacre”, but no action Watched Taking to the streets against budget cuts in Spain Tue, Jul 17 2012 Girl caught after falling from third-story window Tue, Jul 17 2012 Mars landing not a crazy concept but risky: program director Mon, Jul 16 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Free Syrian Army A rare look inside the Syrian rebel army fighting to overthrow Assad. Slideshow Smithsonian: Shapes and shadows Artistic images of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex. Slideshow Visa, MC still face hurdles in China after WTO ruling Tweet Share this Email Print Related News S&P 500 falls for seventh day in eight Mon, Jul 16 2012 Citi second-quarter profit falls, old assets sting Mon, Jul 16 2012 U.S. wins WTO case over China bank card monopoly Mon, Jul 16 2012 China's economy cools, shows need for policy action Fri, Jul 13 2012 U.S. urges China to open talks on South China Sea Thu, Jul 12 2012 Analysis & Opinion Counterparties: The largest antitrust settlement in US history? Learn the compliance lessons from an epic fail in correspondent banking and trade finance Related Topics Tech » China » By Kelvin Soh HONG KONG | Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:23am EDT HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. bank card suppliers looking to take on China UnionPay in its home market after the WTO ruled Beijing illegally favors the state-owned network will be battling a deeply entrenched incumbent with 2.5 billion cards in circulation worldwide. The likes of Visa Inc (V.N), Mastercard Inc (MA.N) and American Express (AXP.N) could find themselves following the path of other foreign financial companies that have entered China with much fanfare but gained little traction. "It's one more step in a very long process to get greater access for Mastercard and others," said Dave Carini, managing director at China Maverick Research. "But that process is going to take several years, and at the end of it they will still not have full and open access to the market they would like." The World Trade Organisation dispute panel said on Monday Beijing had broken WTO rules by requiring all yuan-denominated payment cards issued in China to work with UnionPay, forcing the country to change its rules to give foreign companies equal access. China requires all foreign card companies to piggyback on UnionPay's network when accepting yuan payments. This means Visa and Mastercard must give a cut of every credit or debit card transaction to UnionPay and the card issuing bank. In most other countries, the foreign card issuers pay only the bank because they use their own network. High interbank transfer charges and the inability to charge fees means the credit card business is unprofitable for most banks unless they achieve a scale that has so far been the preserve of domestic lenders. A senior bank executive interviewed by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for its annual Foreign Banks in China report said scale of at least 20 million cards was needed for the business to be successful. A rapid increase in the number of cards being issued could also spell trouble for the banks guaranteeing them in a region with a history of consumer credit crises. Many other Asian economies including Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have all experienced a credit card crisis at some point during the last decade, hit by runaway household spending that eventually threatened the stability of many banks. "History has repeatedly shown that when there is excessive credit, there will be excessive use," said Chak Wong, a professor of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a former managing director at Barclays and UBS. "Competition is always good, but China is still less developed than other Asian countries, and you have to consider whether or not consumers there can safely handle unsecured credit on a big scale." Officials at Visa and Mastercard declined to comment on their China strategy in the light of the WTO ruling. LUCRATIVE BUSINESS Mastercard estimates credit card spending in China will reach $2.5 trillion by 2025 from just over $1 trillion now, in a country where it remains common to see wads of cash being handed over for big ticket items such as luxury watches. Some 55 million new credit cards were issued in 2011, up more than a fifth from 2010. There are now 285 million credit cards in circulation in China, according to the country's central bank. Set up in 2002, UnionPay is already the world's largest card payment scheme. Its logo appears on 29.2 percent of the 8 billion cards issued worldwide, higher than Visa at 28.6 percent, according to a study by Retail Banking Research in London. It says its cards can be used in more than 100 countries. Before the ruling, Citibank (C.N) and Bank of East Asia (0023.HK) were the only foreign banks allowed to issue credit cards in their own name. Other foreign banks were required to partner with a local lender to launch co-branded cards. "I would consider China UnionPay not only successful in China but also outside of China," said Jafizwaty Ishahak, a director at consultancy Frost & Sullivan in Singapore. "Their timing was right." For foreign card companies looking at China the bruising experience of Western banks is not encouraging. Lenders such as Bank of America (BAC.N) and RBS (RBS.L) entered China before the 2008/09 financial crisis and failed to make an impact in a country intent on protecting local players. Chinese securities firms took three of the top five slots in Asia's January-June league table of investment banking fees, for example, with domestic names such as Guosen and Citic Securities (6030.HK) outranking the likes of Goldman Sachs (GS.N). UnionPay's close ties the Chinese government also ensures its privileged position, being partially owned by the so-called "Big Four" state-controlled banks of ICBC, China Construction Bank (0939.HK), Agricultural Bank of China (1288.HK) and Bank of China and run by a former vice governor of the central bank. "In the case of UnionPay, China obviously wants to develop a world-class homegrown player," said Doug Young, a professor at Fudan University. "Having to share its home market with foreign rivals would obviously hurt UnionPay's profits over the shorter term, potentially making its IPO less attractive if and when it comes." (Additional reporting by Kazunori Takada in Shanghai, Michael Martina in Beijing and David Henry in New York; Editing by Alex Richardson) Tech China Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) StigTW wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Exclusive: Somali pirate kingpins enjoy impunity
Tunisian leader promises Ben Ali fair trial, safety |
Moroccan cleric indicted for editor's death edict |
U.N. expert says U.S. executions, due Wednesday, unconstitutional |
Iran offers to insure foreign ships to skirt EU ban |
Google unit says will avoid U.S. import ban on smartphones |
Facebook shares slide as user growth in question |
Yahoo Japan buys stake in cloud storage firm Basho |
Tom Cruise visits daughter after Holmes split |
Syrian battles rage in capital, Russia pressed |
North Korean leader cements control over army |
Congo unrest threatens push to curb conflict minerals trade |
Insight: Syria's Assad trusts inner circle in fight for survival |
Frenchman goes to China as witness in Bo case: Cambodia |
Romania president likely to be impeached: poll |
Australian woman wins multi-million Thalidomide payout from Diageo |
UAE's first nuclear plant gets construction permit |
China's Wen vows job creation as growth slows: paper |
Nuclear issue puts increasing pressure on Japan government |
Judge rejects secrecy bids in Apple vs. Samsung battle |
Visa, MC still face hurdles in China after WTO ruling |
Australia's Qantas Airways drops Blackberrys for iPhones |
Dell CEO upbeat on China despite slowdown |
Actor Christian Bale reflects on years as Dark Knight |
Tom Cruise visits daughter after Holmes split |
Paparazzo may face charges in Justin Bieber car chase |
Panetta hails F-35 jet as key for UK, U.S. |
Blast on Bulgaria bus carrying Israeli tourists, 3 dead |
Britain to set further Afghan troop drawdown at end 2012 |
Senate panel votes to renew Myanmar sanctions |
Hungary detains man, 97, accused of torturing Jews in war |
Mali asks Hague court to investigate rebel crimes |
Frenchman goes to China as witness in Bo case: Cambodia |
Russia clamps down on foreign-funded rights groups |
AT&T data fees to jump in new shared plan option |
Analysts see weak PC demand hurting Intel margins |
Analysts await new Yahoo CEO's strategy after dull results |
Investors cheer Check Point profit rise, buyback |
Rovi shares slump on profit warning |
Cogeco to pay $1.36 billion for Atlantic Broadband, shares dive |
Smartphones a brightspot amid Asian chipmaker gloom |
Halle Berry suffers minor head injury on Los Angeles set |
Sofia Vergara tops Forbes highest paid U.S. TV actresses |
UK exhibition stresses Shakespeare's relevance today |
A Minute With: Michael Caine revisiting Batman's Alfred |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01