Over 45 Credit Cards Suspended This Year, Card Issuance Drops by 111 Million in Three Years
Since the beginning of 2026, the banking industry has experienced an unprecedented wave of credit card streamlining. Major institutions such as Agricultural Bank of China, China Minsheng Bank, China Communications Bank, and Guangdong Development Bank have issued announcements suspending the issuance of multiple credit card products.
According to preliminary statistics, over 45 credit card products have been added to the suspension list this year, with co-branded and themed credit cards being the hardest hit. This intensive action sends a clear signal: banks are accelerating the adjustment of their original card issuance strategies.
Authoritative data released by the People's Bank of China confirms the overall contraction of the industry. As of the end of 2025, the number of credit cards and integrated credit/debit cards nationwide has decreased to 696 million. Compared to the historical peak of 807 million at the end of the third quarter of 2022, the cumulative decrease is 111 million, bringing the card issuance scale back to levels approximately seven years ago.
Behind this change lies a fundamental shift in industry logic. With the full implementation of the new credit card regulations in July 2024, the banking industry has officially transitioned from a past of land-grabbing incremental competition to an era of stock-based competition.
At the same time, the non-performing rate of credit card businesses at several listed banks is rising, forcing financial institutions to re-examine the balance between risk and return. Large-scale clearing of products that do not meet standards or have low activity has become an inevitable choice for controlling costs and risks.
A senior banking industry researcher pointed out that the pursuit of growth in the number of cards issued in the past actually contained a lot of bubbles in statistical terms. A large number of long-term idle dormant cards not only cannot generate transaction amounts and interest income, but also continuously consume the bank's operating resources and risk control limits.
After the implementation of the new regulations, banks began to clear these dormant cards in batches, leading to a significant decline in statistical figures. This scale reduction is essentially squeezing out water, concentrating resources on serving high-value users through streamlining the product line, thereby improving the overall health of the business.
This shift from quantity to quality means that the credit card industry is bidding farewell to extensive growth. The focus of future competition will no longer be on who issues more cards, but on who can increase cardholder activity and loyalty through more refined operations.
By proactively suspending poorly performing products, banks can effectively reduce redundant costs and redirect their energy to core products with greater market competitiveness. This survival breakout battle is driving the Chinese credit card market towards a more mature and rational direction.