Recently, several banks in mainland China have announced a halt in issuing certain credit card products, including state-owned banks, joint-stock banks, and local banks. The halt mainly affects co-branded cards and themed cards, indicating a growing trend of contraction in the credit card business.
Official data indicates a continuous decline in the scale of credit cards. According to the overall situation of the payment system in 2025 released by the People’s Bank of China, by the end of 2025, the total number of credit cards and unified credit/debit cards in the country was 696 million, a decrease of about 31 million compared to 2024.
On April 2, Minsheng Bank Credit Card Center announced the discontinuation of 11 credit card products, including the Minsheng MultiPoint Co-branded Credit Card.
Agricultural Bank also successively announced the suspension of multiple credit card offerings, including the Youth Card for college students, Visa Global Payment Card (Olympic Edition), and various co-branded cards. Meanwhile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China plans to gradually halt the issuance of Gold Thread Benefit Credit Card, High-Altitude Themed Card, and Car Themed Card products around 2026.
At the same time, many small and medium-sized banks have joined the ranks of halting credit card issuance. Institutions such as Wuhan Rural Commercial Bank and Zhejiang Rural Credit Union Bank have announced the cessation of issuing related co-branded credit cards due to partnership termination or business adjustments.
Regarding existing cards after the halt, many banks stated that issued cards can still be used normally within the validity period but will not issue new cards.
According to a report by Red Star Capital on April 15, the issuance volume of credit cards has declined for three consecutive years, with a reduction of 111 million cards compared to the historical peak at the end of the third quarter of 2022, approaching the level at the end of 2018, setting a nearly seven-year low record.
It is widely believed in the industry that the contraction of credit card business is closely related to the increasing pressure on asset quality. In recent years, the repayment ability of some customer groups has declined, leading to a continuous rise in the credit card delinquency rate. In 2025, the asset quality of credit cards at many banks was significantly strained.
By the end of 2025, the credit card delinquency rate of ICBC reached 4.61%, a substantial increase of 1.11 percentage points over the end of 2024; Minsheng Bank’s credit card delinquency rate rose to 3.87%, and the delinquency rate of Industrial Bank was 3.34%.
Analysis indicates that this change reflects a significant decrease in the debt repayment capacity of consumer groups in the lower-tier markets and those more significantly impacted by the macroeconomic environment.
Against this backdrop, banks are accelerating the disposal of non-performing assets through bulk transfers and tightening card issuance strategies to control risk exposure.