BANK of East Asia has applied to issue credit cards on the Chinese mainland and hopes to kick off the business this year.

"Bank-card business is one of the keys for our retail business on the mainland," Lam Chi Man, executive vice president of Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

"It is a must for our retail banking."

The bank is awaiting approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission of its application for debit cards and credit cards.

The bank expects an answer on its debit cards by the end of September and a clear stance on its credit-card business by the end of the year.

BEA has been preparing for the bank-cards business since the beginning of this year.

Standard Chartered has also applied for debit and credit cards. HSBC and Citibank declined to comment on the credit-card issue yesterday. The two applied last month to issue debit cards.

The four banks are the first overseas lenders to incorporate on the Chinese mainland.

China has issued more than 50 million credit cards.