Citing stiff competition, 43 per cent of foreign bankers surveyed expect an uphill battle to make money in the mainland's credit card market over the next three years, according to a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit for First Data International.
The survey polled 152 banking executives, retailers and payment services executives in March and April.
Only 21 per cent thought it would be possible to turn a profit in the country's nascent credit card market in the next three years. In the longer run, however, 85 per cent of respondents expressed belief that the prospects are promising.
Charles Goddard, the editorial director at Economist Intelligence Unit, attributed the short-term concern to fierce competition for customers, especially from mainland banks which have large branch networks.
Three of the big four domestic lenders have a total of more than 54,000 branches while the first four foreign banks licensed to operate in the mainland have just over 100 branches between them.
Other challenges include the low card usage rate, a lack of consumer credit data and a small point-of-sale network of only about 4 per cent of the country's merchants, Mr Goddard noted.
