3 years, nearly 100 million credit cards canceled! Banks continue to adjust this service

Over the past three years, China’s credit card industry has seen a clear “diet.”

According to the People’s Bank of China’s release on the overall operation of the payment system in the third quarter of 2025, the number of credit cards (credit cards and integrated credit/debit cards) has been 707 million since 2025. Based on a整理 by a reporter from China Securities Journal, the scale of credit cards nationwide has continued to decline year over year throughout the year, down by 20 million cards from the beginning of the year; over a longer period, over the past three years the cumulative reduction has been close to 100 million credit cards.

Based on the credit card business data disclosed by multiple listed banks this year, the reporter from China Securities Journal said that the three major trends seen in 2025 are still continuing: first, the number of cards issued has shrunk significantly, and credit card business is gradually shifting from scale expansion to quality optimization; second, the growth rate of credit card consumption has slowed noticeably, and the credit card consumption market faces a certain contraction; third, the asset quality of credit card loan assets at most large and mid-sized banks has fluctuated significantly, and at the same time they have accelerated efforts to clear credit card non-performing “burdens.”

Nearly 100 million credit cards have “disappeared” over three years

On December 2, the People’s Bank of China disclosed《Overall Situation of the Payment System Operations in the Third Quarter of 2025》. It shows that as of the end of September 2025, the number of credit cards had fallen to 707 million. Compared with prior data, the number of credit cards has fallen for 12 consecutive quarters from the historical high of 807 million as of the end of September 2022, shrinking by about 100 million cards to date.

Credit card business is a key focus of banks’ retail strategies, and it is also one of the important sources of intermediary business income and interest income. With financial regulators strengthening oversight and standardization of banks’ credit card business in recent years, the number of cards issued, number of customers, market share, or market ranking may not be used as a single or primary performance indicator for banks.

In recent years, large banks that ranked among the top in card issuance have also been accelerating efforts to clear “dormant credit cards,” which is also how banks respond to regulators’ requirements for dynamic monitoring and management of a bank’s long-term dormant card rate. Regarding how long-term dormant cards are defined, regulators have said they refer to credit cards with no active transactions for more than 18 consecutive months, with the current overdrawn balance and overpayment amount both being zero. After gradually disposing of dormant cards, the active card rate for credit cards has improved somewhat.

Based on the credit card business data disclosed by some listed banks over the past two years, the China Securities Journal reporter整理s that as of the end of the first half of 2025, card issuance at state-owned banks such as Bank of Communications, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Postal Savings Bank of China declined year over year, decreasing by approximately 4.79 million, 4.00 million, 2.00 million, and 1.00 million, respectively. Meanwhile, banks such as China CITIC Bank (601998), Bank of China (601988), Huaxia Bank (600015), and China Merchants Bank (600036) achieved growth against the trend. Among them, China CITIC Bank’s year-over-year growth was about 6.37 million cards, while Bank of China and Huaxia Bank increased year over year by 2.34 million and 1.80 million cards, respectively.

A veteran credit card research professional, Dong Zheng, believes that the shrinking of the credit card market is the result of multiple factors working together, including regulatory policies, market competition, changes in user habits, and banks’ own strategic adjustments. For example, from the perspective of market competition, changes in the payment ecosystem have put pressure on credit cards from competitors. Mobile payments have been deeply integrated into daily life. Relying on payment scenarios and seamlessly embedding into internet credit payment tools, they have clearly replaced traditional credit cards in the area of small-ticket, high-frequency payments.

63 credit card sub-centers suspended within the year

The accelerated consolidation and clearance in credit card business is also reflected in the shrinking and shutdown of credit card specialist branches at certain commercial banks.

Based on the website of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, as of the time the reporter prepared this piece, a total of 63 credit card sub-centers have already discontinued operations within the year, including Bank of Communications (601328), Minsheng Bank (600016), and 广发银行, among others.

Specifically, Bank of Communications shut down the largest number of credit card sub-centers—56. These include credit card sub-centers in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou that were shut down in succession during the year. In addition, within the year, Minsheng Bank closed the North China credit card center, the Northeast credit card center, the Central China credit card center, and the South China credit card center, as well as the Deyang sub-center, for a total of 5 entities. 广发银行 terminated operations for the Changji sub-center and the Mudanjiang sub-center of its credit card center.

In fact, credit card sub-centers established by banks are typically managed directly by the head office. Personnel allocation, marketing activities, and venue operation costs are independent of local branches. Such specialist branches mainly flourished during the rapid development period when credit card business was “staking territory,” and by investing resources they would expand related businesses into cities with market gaps.

As the credit card market entered “red ocean” competition in recent years, combined with further strengthening regulatory efforts, more and more commercial banks consider the inputs and outputs of investing in this area, choosing to “run things precisely” to manage their credit card business operations.

In March 2025, at Bank of Communications’ 2024 annual results briefing, the bank’s management for the first time responded to the “wave of撤并” of credit card sub-centers in multiple locations nationwide. Its core operating philosophy was “accelerating the transformation of credit card operations to local (in-region) management.”

The management of Bank of Communications stated that in the past, its credit card business used a model of centralized, direct operation through credit card centers, which provided unique advantages during the period of rapid credit card business development. However, as credit card business has moved to a new stage, the limitations of this model have become increasingly obvious.

Based on market changes, an executive from Bank of Communications said that in order to better meet the needs of customers for integrated comprehensive financial services, and to better adapt to the requirements of credit card business developing into a new stage, the bank has reformed its credit card business model: changing from the previous centralized, direct operation to local branch-based operation. The branches provide customers within the local area with one-stop, comprehensive financial services, and the credit card business is included in local retail business for unified operations.

Shutting down credit card sub-centers does not mean withdrawing from service; it means adjusting the focus of operations. As a banking industry practitioner previously told the China Securities Journal reporter, after some joint-stock banks migrated the customers of the original credit card sub-centers to local branches, they could continue to provide services through an “online + offline” integrated model. By embedding credit card business into scenarios such as wealth management and consumer loans, they can improve customer stickiness.

Retail assets such as credit card loans under pressure

In addition to limited momentum in card volume growth, another major trend continuing in the year is that the total amount of transactions made by customers using credit cards has also been declining. Based on data from some banks, even the outstanding balance of credit card loans still in existence shows year-over-year declines.

Judging by the cumulative consumption amount in the first half of 2025, the China Securities Journal reporter整理s five listed banks with comparable data; in each case, the figures declined year over year. Specifically, China Merchants Bank’s credit card consumption amounted to 2.02 trillion yuan, down by about 188.8 billion yuan from the same period in 2024. In addition, the relevant indicators for Everbright Bank (601818), China CITIC Bank, Industrial Bank (601166), and Huaxia Bank decreased by 169.3 billion yuan, 155.7 billion yuan, 111.0 billion yuan, and 70.0 billion yuan, respectively.

Another metric is the outstanding balance of credit card overdrafts (loans). The China Securities Journal reporter compared 10 listed banks ranked relatively high in outstanding credit card overdraft balances. In the first half of 2025, except for generally rising figures among state-owned banks such as Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398), many joint-stock banks saw year-over-year contractions. For example, Ping An Bank (000001), China CITIC Bank, Minsheng Bank, and Everbright Bank recorded year-over-year decreases of approximately 76.1 billion yuan, 45.6 billion yuan, 25.1 billion yuan, and 15.4 billion yuan, respectively, in the outstanding balance of credit card overdrafts.

In a report released in September this year, Deloitte analyzed that credit card consumption amounts continued to decline in the first half of 2025. Affected by the macroeconomic environment and consumer confidence, some banks saw declines in total credit card consumption, reflecting the dual effects of weakening consumer demand among residents and a stronger intention to save preventively. Overall, the trend of contraction in the credit card consumption market is obvious, and all banks face the challenge of declining consumption amounts.

In addition, according to the China Securities Journal reporter’s整理, in the first half of 2025, many large state-owned banks and joint-stock banks with significant scale also saw their credit card non-performing loan ratios rise year over year, with a certain impact on asset quality.

Specifically, credit card non-performing loan ratios at multiple banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Minsheng Bank and Industrial Bank have already surpassed 3%, while Bank of Communications’ figure is close to 3%. Among them, ICBC’s credit card non-performing loan ratio rose by 0.72 percentage points year over year to 3.75%; Bank of Communications’ increased by 0.65 percentage points year over year to 2.97%; at China Construction Bank (601939) and Minsheng Bank, the ratios rose by 0.49 and 0.44 percentage points year over year to 2.35% and 3.68%, respectively. In addition, Industrial Bank and Ping An Bank reduced non-performing ratios more noticeably, decreasing by 0.6 percentage points year over year and 0.4 percentage points, respectively.

In a research report released in November this year, Guosen Securities’ Wang Jian team also pointed out that retail loan risks at banks are currently being exposed and have not peaked yet. Currently, retail loans including personal housing loans, personal consumer loans, and credit card loans are all being exposed. In recent years, the credit card non-performing loan ratio has continued to rise, but from the slope the upward trend has slowed.

(Editor: Wang Zhiqiang HF013）

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