PBOC data show total credit cards and combined credit‑loan cards stood at 677 mln at end‑Q2, down 10 mln QoQ and nearly 20 mln since the start of the year. Listed banks’ interim disclosures show divergent card-stock trends; among banks reporting credit data, ICBC, CCB, Ping An and most large lenders posted sharp declines. Xue Hongyan, visiting researcher at SuShang Bank, said substitution from similar products has intensified and is hitting credit cards; lagging product innovation and product ho

PBOC data show total credit cards and combined credit‑loan cards stood at 677 mln at end‑Q2, down 10 mln QoQ and nearly 20 mln since the start of the year. Listed banks’ interim disclosures show divergent card-stock trends; among banks reporting credit data, ICBC, CCB, Ping An and most large lenders posted sharp declines. Xue Hongyan, visiting researcher at SuShang Bank, said substitution from similar products has intensified and is hitting credit cards; lagging product innovation and product homogeneity at some banks, together with strong competition from internet credit-pay tools such as Huabei and Baitiao, have accelerated younger users’ abandonment of cards and materially reduced their willingness to use them.