The credit card industry has entered a stage of stock competition

Recently, the People's Bank of China released the overall operation of the payment system in 2022. Statistics show that the national payment system is running smoothly, and the number of bank accounts, non-cash payment business, and payment system business volume have generally maintained growth.

"The payment system is the central hub of capital circulation and the infrastructure for high-quality economic and social development, and the importance of building a safe, efficient, convenient and internationally leading payment system is self-evident." Ma Tianjiao, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, said that the overall operation of the payment system shows that China is accelerating the construction of a safe, convenient and efficient payment system to promote the rapid development of the real economy.

In 2022, the payment system processed a total of 1.06 trillion payment transactions with a value of 10877,24.13 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 85.15% and 09.2022% respectively. In general, the overall operation of the payment system in 2022 is characterized by the following two points: First, the number of bank accounts has increased slightly. By the end of 141, a total of 67.3 billion bank accounts had been opened nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 68.2022%. The second is the transition from non-cash business to stock operation, including bank cards, electronic payment and other businesses. In 4626, banks across the country handled a total of 49.4805 billion non-cash payments, amounting to 77.5 trillion yuan, up 27.8% and 84.<>% year-on-year, respectively.

It is worth noting that China's credit card industry has shifted from a high-speed growth model to a high-quality development model. From 2017 to 2019, the credit card business grew rapidly, with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%, and the number of credit cards in 2021 and 2022 was basically stable, and the per capita number of cards remained at 0.57, indicating that the extensive expansion model is nearing the end. In July 2022, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China issued the Notice on Further Promoting the Healthy Development of Credit Card Business Standards, proposing to strengthen the operation and management of credit card business, strictly regulate card issuance marketing behavior, strictly manage credit and risk control, and strictly control the flow of funds, aiming to rectify the chaos of credit card operation and improve the quality and efficiency of credit card services.

"Commercial banks are actively exploring the road of digital transformation, relying on customer information databases and artificial intelligence to screen high-quality customers for precision marketing and realize intelligent credit management. At the beginning of this year, more than 30 commercial banks have successively issued announcements to reduce the amount of credit cards, deactivate or cancel credit cards for long-term sleep credit cards in stages. Ma Tianjiao said that at present, the transformation of credit card business has achieved results, coupled with the optimization of epidemic prevention and control policies to stimulate consumption willingness and boost consumption expectations, residents' repayment ability and willingness to improve, the growth rate of credit card bad balances has declined, and the non-performing rate has basically stabilized. As of the end of 2022, the total outstanding credit of credit cards for half a year was 865.80 billion yuan, accounting for 1% of the credit card repayable balance, and the year-on-year growth rate decreased from 2021.2% in 59 to 0.63%.

With the rapid development of financial technology, the scale of payment transactions in China has gradually expanded, and the operation efficiency of the payment system has been continuously improved. In 2022, banks handled a total of 2789.65 billion electronic payment businesses, amounting to 3110.13 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.45% and 4.5% year-on-year, respectively, and the total amount of bank electronic payments increased slightly. Among them, there were 1585.07 billion mobile payment businesses, a year-on-year increase of 4.81%, and a value of 499.62 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.19%. "Big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other technologies accelerate the digital transformation of financial institutions, which also makes the service efficiency of the entire financial industry more efficient, and financial institutions are constantly exploring a wider range of application scenarios in the process of promoting digitalization, including transportation, smart retail, people's livelihood payment and other social fields, which are also more conducive to the construction of diversified payment systems and promote the integrated development of financial technology and digital economy." Xu Zewei, secretary of the party committee of the Beijing Internet Finance Industry Association, believes.

The Central Economic Work Conference emphasized that financial institutions should be guided to increase support for small and micro enterprises, scientific and technological innovation, green development and other fields. The payment system is a channel for the flow of financial vitality, and the banking industry should further strengthen the construction of the payment system and build a safe, convenient and efficient payment network system. Zhou Maohua, macro researcher of the financial market department of China Everbright Bank, said that next, it is necessary to continuously improve the regulatory system and laws for payment and settlement, strengthen market supervision, strengthen the compliance operation of market entities, improve regulatory efficiency, and promote the healthy development of market norms. Improve the payment and settlement infrastructure and improve the anti-risk ability of the payment system; Expand the coverage of payment business, support industry innovation, meet people's multi-level, diversified and experiential payment needs, and promote the inclusive development of payment business; Continue to strengthen the governance of illegal and criminal activities of telecommunications fraud and illegal payment; Strengthen the capacity building of cross-border payment risk prevention, and steadily promote the construction of cross-border payment system and international cooperation.