As China’s economy continues to slide, credit cards are also showing a noticeable “cooling down” trend. As of June 2025, the total number of credit cards and combined credit/debit cards decreased by 92 million, with a drop of over 11% compared to 2024 when 40 million were reduced. Reports also indicate that the credit card usage rate among post-90s young people dropped by 29% over the past five years.
According to a report by《Times Weekly》on September 9th, the total number of credit cards and combined credit/debit cards decreased from 807 million in June 2022 to 715 million in June 2025, evaporating 92 million cards. In 2024 alone, 40 million cards quietly disappeared from the market.
The overall situation of the payment system in the second quarter of 2025 released by the People’s Bank of China showed that by the end of the second quarter, there were 715 million credit cards and combined credit/debit cards, a decrease of 6 million from the previous quarter, 12 million from the end of last year, and a sharp drop of over 11% from the peak of 807 million cards in 2022. This marks a continuous decline for 11 consecutive quarters.
According to the semi-annual reports disclosed by six state-owned banks and eight joint-stock banks (excluding Zhejiang Commercial Bank), the total outstanding credit card loans of these 14 listed banks amounted to 7.52 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, a decrease of 2.56% compared to the beginning of the year, a reduction of 197.8 billion yuan. Among them, 11 banks had varying degrees of contraction in outstanding credit card loans compared to the beginning of the year, with only ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, and SPD Bank achieving balance growth.
Looking at credit card transaction volume, in the first half of this year, “credit card leader” China Merchants Bank achieved a credit card transaction volume of 2.02 trillion yuan, being the only bank with a transaction volume exceeding 2 trillion yuan, but experiencing an 8.54% year-on-year decrease.
While the credit card business scale is shrinking, the non-performing loan ratio of many banks’ credit cards is still on the rise. By the end of the first half of this year, ICBC, Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank reported non-performing loan ratios increasing by 0.25%, 0.13%, and 0.05% respectively compared to the beginning of the year.
Wu Ze Wei, a special researcher at Su Commercial Bank, told《Times Weekly》that the decrease in outstanding credit card loans of listed banks is the result of multiple factors, including the slow recovery pace of consumption limiting offline scenarios and card usage desire, continuous diversion of high-frequency small loan demand by internet consumption finance platforms, banks intensifying the clearance of dormant cards, and some cardholders voluntarily canceling cards due to shrinking benefits.
According to the official media《Economic Reference News》reported in early August, more than 40 banks, including Bank of Communications, Minsheng Bank, and Guangfa Bank, have terminated operations of their credit card centers. At the same time, multiple banks announced halts in issuing certain cobranded credit cards.
Apart from closing credit card centers, many banks have also stopped issuing certain cobranded credit cards. For example, Bank of China recently announced that due to business adjustments, starting from August 31, 2025, they will stop issuing certain credit card products and adjust the design of the cards, involving 24 products specifically.
China CITIC Bank stated in early July that starting from midnight on August 31, 2025, they will halt card application, replaced card, renewal, and expiration extension services for some UnionPay cobranded credit card products. Prior to this, SPDB Credit Card Center also announced that starting from May 12, 2025, they would stop issuing 14 credit card products.
According to《Times Weekly》，as the tide of credit cards recedes, many consumers still report being “scammed” during the process of acquiring or using credit cards. The media found on the Heimaotou complaint platform that the number of complaints related to credit cards has exceeded 410,000, mostly focusing on arbitrary charges, high fees for overdue interest, and failure to remind of annual fees.
Some were misled into applying for a credit card when booking airline tickets, others incurred over 1,000 yuan in revolving interest for being just 2 days overdue.
It is noteworthy that the significant decline in credit card usage among young people is one of the important factors contributing to the substantial contraction of the credit card market.
A report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences revealed a shocking 29 percentage point drop in credit card usage among post-90s. In street interviews, young people gave straightforward reasons, with statements like, “Being charged over 1,000 yuan for just being 2 days overdue is harsher than loan sharks.”
Recently, the topic labeled “Are young people abandoning credit cards?” has sparked heated discussions on the internet.
Netizens expressed, “Letting go may not always be a bad thing. Now, young people have realized that having multiple cards doesn’t equate to wealth; effectively managing one card is what counts. Keeping one commonly used card with sufficient credit and practical benefits means no more worries about ‘which card to pay off this month.’ Increasing consumer awareness leads to a more stable wallet. This ‘reductionist lifestyle’ is much more reliable than struggling to maintain a pile of cards!”
“Many young people have harmed themselves by borrowing to pay off debts or getting into a cycle of credit card debt. Stay away from credit cards, reject malicious overdrafts for advanced consumption debt, especially young people, don’t ask why. Issuing cards will be more challenging in the future, right? Young people are returning to rational consumption.”