Credit Card Balances of 14 Banks Shrank by RMB 200 Billion in the First Half of the Year
According to the 2025 interim reports, the combined credit card loan balances of six state-owned major banks and eight joint-stock banks totaled RMB 7.52 trillion, a decrease of RMB 197.572 billion compared to the beginning of the year, reflecting a decline of 2.56%. Among them, 11 banks experienced varying degrees of contraction in their credit card loan balances.
Both credit card loan balances and credit card transaction volumes reflect the activity level of credit cards. According to The Beijing News, in terms of credit card transaction volume, China Merchants Bank led other listed banks with a transaction volume of RMB 2.02 trillion in the first half of this year, though this represented a year-on-year decrease of 8.54%. On September 1, Peng Jiawen, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of China Merchants Bank, stated at the 2025 interim results press conference that the bank’s手续费 and commission income are generally under pressure this year, with the greatest pressure coming from credit card business revenue.
According to Yicai, in addition to macroeconomic factors such as consumption, people’s attitudes toward holding credit cards have undergone significant changes. Several cardholders stated that they canceled their credit cards because "there’s no use having too many; one or two is enough."
"I originally had seven credit cards, but I canceled the excess ones in the first half of this year, leaving only one from China Merchants Bank," one user shared on social media about their "decluttering." Another user mentioned having 11 credit cards and canceling four this year, adding, "I will cancel two more by the end of the year. The ones I truly need I’ll keep, while the unnecessary ones will gradually be phased out."
The People’s Bank of China’s "Overall Operation of the Payment System in 2024" report showed that, as of the end of 2024, the number of bank cards issued nationwide reached 9.913 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.29%. Among these, debit cards accounted for 9.186 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.84%, while credit cards and combo cards totaled 727 million, a year-on-year decrease of 5.14%.
From an industry perspective, analysts pointed out that the decline in credit card issuance is primarily due to the impact of new credit card regulations. These regulations have had a significant and far-reaching impact on the development of credit card businesses, driving the industry from a rough development stage of "land grabbing" to a high-quality development stage characterized by professionalism and refinement.
