Standard Chartered issues yuan debit card in China (at Reuters)

By George Chen SHANGHAI, July 24 (Reuters) - Emerging market-focused bank Standard Chartered (STAN.L: ) began issuing its first yuan-denominated debit card on Thursday as it targets business from China's more than $2 trillion in household savings. Standard Chartered is the second foreign bank to issue local-currency debit cards in the world's fastest growing major economy, after Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia (0023.HK: ) launched its card for Chinese residents earlier this year. "We have been in China for 150 years and at last we can now issue our own bank card," Katherine Tsang, chief executive of Standard Chartered China, told reporters after a launch ceremony. She declined to give a timeframe for when the London-based bank could make a profit from its bank card business in China, but said the bank would increasingly focus... [read full story]