99Bill Launches Cross Bank Credit Card Bill Payment Services in China

The service will allow 99Bill users to pay their monthly credit card bills online using local debit cards or 99Bill accounts even if the credit card and the debit card are not issued by the same bank. The initial cross-bank bill payment services cover the eight major credit cards issuing banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and China Merchants Bank.

The number of credit cards in China reached over 75 million at the end of 2007, and is projected to reach over 100 millions during 2008. Due to the fact that there are no personal checks in China, currently, most Chinese credit card holders have to withdraw cash at the bank branches where they keep the saving accounts and pay monthly credit card bills with cash at the counter of the credit card issuing banks. This process is very tedious and time consuming for the consumers and inefficient for the both saving bank and credit cards issuing banks.

The 99Bill's cross bank bill payment services will enable customers to use any debit card or 99Bill account to pay the credit card bills online regardless of the debit and credit card issuing banks, and can significantly improve the consumer experience. Additionally, the service can benefit the debit and credit card issuing banks as well by reducing the traffic at the branch offices, cutting bill payment processing cost and enhancing the customers' loyalty.

99Bill will expand the service coverage to more credit cards issuing banks and more terminal devices, including mobile phones, stand alone kiosks, and other end devices to further improve the consumer experience and processing efficiency.