FINANCE

Visa Wins Preliminary Approval for Yuan Card Clearing in China

Published: Oct. 13, 2026 4:29 p.m. GMT+8

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Visa has received preliminary approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to establish a bank card clearing institution, paving the way for the U.S. payments giant to support the issuance of yuan-denominated Visa cards and provide domestic card clearing services.

Visa Information Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Visa’s China entity, has one year to complete preparations before applying to begin operations, according to a PBOC statement released Tuesday.

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PBoC granted preliminary approval to Visa for a bank card clearing institution in China.
Visa has one year to prepare before applying for final approval from PBoC and NFRA.
This would make Visa the third foreign network licensed, after AmEx and Mastercard, enabling yuan-denominated clearing.

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Who’s Who

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What Happened When

After Tuesday, October 13, 2026 (within one year)：: Visa must complete preparations to apply for final approval to begin operations.

After final approval (not specified in article)：: Visa will provide yuan-denominated card clearing services in China, becoming the third international card network with a bank card clearing license.

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