China has finally decided to allow foreign payment card companies to operate in the country. The country’s central bank, People’s Bank of China, has issued new rules in this regard, which allows companies like Visa and MasterCard operate in the card payment market in the country. The two entities have been lobbying for more than a decade for direct access to China’s cards market, which is projected to become the world’s biggest by 2020. Bank card consumer transactions have reached 55 trillion yuan in 2015, accounting for 48% of total social consumption. The market is dominated by state-run China UnionPay Co. The rules issued by the central bank and the China Banking Regulatory Commission require that applicants hold 1 billion yuan in registered capital in a local company. The foreign bank card companies must also meet China’s national security and cyber security standards and be locally based.