IMGCAP(1)]
CITIC Bank has begun issuing its first credit card that customers can design themselves, a spokesperson for the China-based bank tells CardLine Global. The "do-it-yourself" card enables consumers to use their own photos or designs on the card face. The bank hopes the cards, which carry the China UnionPay and MasterCard Worldwide brands, appeal to younger consumers. Consumers can design their cards from the bank's Web site, the spokesperson says. Other issuers in China, including Communications Bank of China, have issued similar cards, Zhang Hua, a China-based banking analyst for United States-based research firm Celent LLC, tells CardLine Global. He doubts such cards would attract significant amounts of consumers, however. Though cards designed for specific market segments such as students have proved popular, offering cash-back rewards, bill-payment applications, air miles, and hotel and insurance discounts have proved more effective at luring credit cardholders in China, he says.
