According to 2011 ranking of card issuers in Asia Pacific (by purchase volume for goods service) published by Nilson Report, a respected trade newsletter on global payment industry, ICBC credit cards ranked No.1 in Asia Pacific, by generating USD 151.414 billion in purchase volume in 2011, USD 41.46 billion higher than Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (No.2). ICBC ended first in the league table for three years in a row if ranked by card issuance volume, putting ICBC the largest card issuer in the Asia Pacific by card issuance volume and purchase volume with the award this time.

Nilson Report made a special comment on ICBC in an announcement of this year's winners. The phenomenal growth of the ICBC's purchase volume and loans to cardholders was a result of the aggressive marketing taken by ICBC to attract and serve more affluent cardholders in line with their different spending habits and preference through innovative products and improved services. ICBC is on track to become the biggest card issuer not only in Asia Pacific but in the world.

Heading the league table in Asia Pacific shows a considerable number of cardholders using ICBC credit cards, said an executive with the Bank. Counting the first factor is the quick response of ICBC over the years to the common as well as individual needs of cardholders. Together with wide acceptance, a full spectrum of card functions and excellent services, there has been an increasing popularity of ICBC credit cards for shopping and payments.

In China, ICBC is a market leader in credit card services so far and emerges as a closest challenger to international peers. As of today, ICBC has issued over 76 million credit cards, ranking fourth in the world and first in Asia. While gathering speed on the card issuance volume, ICBC tops the domestic league table in cardholder expenditure amount and overdraft volume. By the end of October, 2012, more than RMB 1 trillion has been spent using ICBC credit cards, a jump of RMB 241.3 billion from a year ago, or 32%.

Based on market demand and consumer spending habits, ICBC has rolled out a wide range of credit card products, namely, Easy Loan cards for salaried workers, multi-currency credit cards for those who go abroad, CoolPass cards for trendy consumers, IC cards for passengers traveling between Guangzhou and Shenzhen by train, Centurion Black cards for high-net-worth customers, money market fund credit cards for ICBC wealth customers. ICBC launched a new service in order to encourage the use of ICBC credit cards. Besides partnering with car manufacturers, ICBC works with home appliance shops, digital products suppliers, cultural and education companies to attract cardholders to pay by installment, driving the sustainable growth of ICBC credit card loan business. By end-october, balance of installment payments from cardholders jumped nearly 200% in three years to over RMB 220 billion. Installment service is now the most welcomed service by the customers, and the fastest growing credit card business in ICBC.

On top of product innovation, ICBC adopts new ways for those who are interested to apply for ICBC credit cards. In 2010, customers welcomed the new ICBC service to apply for credit cards online via Internet Banking, the first such service in China. In less than four years over 7 million credit cards have been applied online since the launch of the service. New cardholders want to use credit cards, 100% new credit cards were activated, average spending on the cards was also far higher than the credit cards issued through conventional channels.

In providing cardholder convenience at the point of sale, ICBC has installed a great number of bank card terminals/devices over the past few years, up to 652,000 POS so far. The Bank also spent efforts to upgrade the service network and availability of bank card terminals/devices. While speeding up the effort on signing up merchants, 637,000 merchants accepted ICBC credit cards as of end of October 2012, covering every aspect of daily living expenses of cardholders, as well as merchants selling branded merchandize to discerning cardholders and Chinese residents with diversified needs.

Meanwhile, ICBC launches chip cards leveraging its domain expertise in R&D and security technology. Through upgrade in card functions, deployment of more contactless POS and expanded card acceptance channels, new chip cards are offered with higher security, wide availability. Cardholders can now pay faster, safer, spending more at the same time. Up to end of October, 2012, ICBC has issued 37.29 million chip cards, out of which, 21.65 million debit cards, 15.64 million credit cards. The total amount which has been spent using chip cards reached RMB 662.7 billion. Meanwhile, ICBC spent tenuous efforts to improve the card acceptance solutions while concentrating on the R&D and launch of chip technology. Up till now, all ICBC counters and self-services devices have been upgraded to accept chip cards. ICBC joins force with industry partners to promote the use of chip cards and provides convenient financial services to cardholders. Chip cards can now be used in transportation management, railways ticketing, highway toll, commercial co-branded, social security/medical insurance, property management, entertainment and restaurant.

ICBC rolled out highly efficient, fast and convenient services to make Credit Card Phone Center into a main service channel. The Center has created a new record by attending over 90% incoming calls within 20 seconds for 25 months in a row, despite the 50% increase of incoming calls. This year, the rate jumped to a record level of 96%. To protect the benefits of cardholders, Credit Card Phone Center also offers other services, such as monitoring on exception transaction, ad-hoc limit adjustment, card activation and reporting of lost card. During the first 10 months of this year, just monitoring on exception transaction, the Center helped cardholders avoid losses to a total of RMB 180 million. Meanwhile, ICBC set up special hotlines to serve 50 million credit card holders classified into important customers, platinum card holders, corporate clients and classic card holders. ICBC is the first bank in China to launch SMS customer service and online customer service to meet the needs of customers for diversified services. Every day, ICBC receives 55,000 SMS enquiries from customers on average, accounting for 30% of all incoming calls.

ICBC credit cards win numerous accolades from the peers and international publications besides being favored by cardholders. At the 2012 "Stars of China" awards program hosted by US Global Finance, ICBC has been named "Best Credit Card Bank in China", the only financial institution in China to win the award and ICBC's second year winning the title. ICBC Credit Card Phone Service Center won prestigious awards for "Best-in-Class" and "Excellent Services" at the Second Excellent Customer Service Center Award Program hosted by China Banking Association, and "2012 Best Contact Center Operation in China", "Best Team in Integrated Service Support" and "Best Team in Operation Management".