HSBC is planning to launch its own credit cards in China by the end of the year. The bank will initially target customers in the Pearl River Delta, the manufacturing hub located just north of Hong Kong, with HSBC-branded cards, said Kevin Martin, HSBC’s Asia-Pacific head of retail banking and wealth management. The bank, which already has co-branded cards in China through a partnership with Bank of Communications Co, received regulatory approval earlier this year for its own mainland offerings. Martin said the aim of the bank in China is to build a full scale, digitally-driven retail banking and wealth-management business and the launch of HSBC-issued credit cards is key to this strategy. Retail banking and wealth management accounted for almost 30% of the bank’s Asian pretax profit in the first quarter. Martin did not disclose the specifics on the digital features that will underpin HSBC’s new cards.
