China Everbright Bank has signed a multi-year agreement with First Data for the supply of credit card and merchant processing services.
The bank currently has more than 10 million debit cards in circulation and plans to launch a credit card later this year.
Under the agreement, First Data will provide business consulting and transaction processing services, including authorisations, account management, back office services and merchant account processing. The vendor will use its VisionPlus software as the processing platform.
China Everbright is the country's first shareholder-owned commercial bank and the deal with First Data marks China's first full bank card outsourcing agreement.
First Data says the contract win, along with the opening of its data centre in Shanghia last year, show its commitment to serve China's emerging electronic payments market.