Wal-Mart Plans Co-Branded Credit Cards in China

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is advancing plans to launch its own credit card in China in a partnership with GE Money and Shenzhen Development Bank, according to a June 25 article in the Financial Times of London.

The card will be the first of its kind to be issued by a foreign retailer in China. Wal-Mart currently operates 57 stores in China with plans to open 18 to 20 more in that country this year.

The credit card would be issued by SDB, a mid-sized lender in south China, with support from GE’s consumer finance unit, which announced plans for a $100 million investment in the bank last October, FT reported.