China Construction Bank (CCB) and Visa International have launched CCB's Interlink programme, which uses the Visa Interlink Dragon debit card to cater to prevailing consumer patterns of spending the amount that is 'in their wallet'.

CCB has selected Beijing and 13 other cities as initial pilot sites with inter-city and inter-provincial network for processing Interlink transactions. The card will also function as an international card when the Chinese yuan becomes a convertible currency. The launch ceremony was attended by officials from both Visa and the CCB. Debit cards differ from credit cards by directly debiting cash from card-holders' accounts instead of charging them with a monthly statement.