Foreign cards on horizon, may woo Chinese users

Foreign debit and credit card companies face a long fight with local electronic payment market leader UnionPay as industry supervision is still evolving and customer needs are diverse, experts said.

US card network Visa has applied for a license from China's central bank to operate in the Chinese market, it said in an email on Friday.

MasterCard, another US-based card company, is also preparing to apply for a license, it said in an email.