China unveiled tighter rules late on Thursday to better regulate its $1.3 trillion credit card industry, urging lenders to adopt a “prudent” growth strategy, and monitor risks more closely, reports Reuters.
Banks are also barred from using the number of cards issued or market share as main performance metrics, and are required to cap the number of dormant cards at 20% of total, according to rules jointly published by China’s central bank, and the country’s banking regulator.
“China’s credit card business has been growing rapidly, playing a key role in facilitating payment and consumption,” the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said in a statement on its website accompanying the release of the new rules.