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United Kingdom-based financial institution HSBC Holdings PLC plans to issue at least 10 million Visa-branded debit cards over the next five years in 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions, a Visa Inc. spokesperson tells CardLine Global. Visa and HSBC announced the five-year card deal this week. HSBC previously has not issued Visa-branded debit cards in any of the 20 countries, the Visa spokesperson says. HSBC will issue the cards in Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam in the Asia-Pacific region, and in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Pakistan in the Middle East. The Middle Eastern arm of HSBC will issue about 1 million cards in that region, some of which will carry Visa's contactless payWave application, the spokesperson says. HSBC expects to start issuing cards by early next year. HSBC already issues Visa-branded debit cards in several Latin American countries, the spokesperson says. HSBC did not respond to a request for comment.
