American Express receives clearance in Mainland China
By Edil Corneille
Express Company, a joint venture of American Express with Lianlian DigiTech, has received approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a network clearing license. With this, American Express becomes the first foreign payments network to be licensed to clear RMB transactions in mainland China. The company expects to begin processing transactions later this year.
Stephen J. Squeri, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American Express enthused, “We are pleased to be the first foreign company to receive this license. This approval represents an important step forward in our long-term growth strategy and is an historic moment, not only for American Express but for the continued growth and development of the payments industry in mainland China…”
Express Company has built a network to clear domestic transactions charged on American Express’ branded cards and is also compatible with key mobile wallet players in China.
Zhengyu Zhang, Chairman of LianLian DigiTech said, “…Against the backdrop of globalization and China’s opening-up of its financial industry, we have been actively introducing China’s mobile payments to the world, while striving to learn from and connect with world-class financial companies. We are confident that our joint venture with American Express will provide more diversified bank card services to consumers and commercial customers in and outside of China.”
Walter Liu, CEO of Express Company mentioned, “We are proud to be the first licensed foreign payments network in mainland China. We will offer our partners differentiated services by bringing together the best from American Express and Lianlian. Our focus now is to continue the preparation work for a successful business launch by working closely with the regulators and partners.”
A few days ago this month, American Express India pledged INR 90 million towards the support of funds and organizations that are helping combat the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes the PM CARES fund and partnerships with Not for Profit Organisations.
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