Company Selling Popular Shopping Cards Runs into Trouble

(Shanghai) – Pre-paid shopping cards have become popular in China in recent years as a way for people to give gifts to relatives and friends.

The debit cards, which require no ID to purchase and no signature at stores, are particularly popular with officials trying to curry favor or peddle influence without revealing their identities.

But Chang-go Card, a card-issuing company in Shanghai, put a damper on the phenomenon earlier in December when some stores stopped accepting cards it issued because they could not process payments with the firm.