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China's Middle Class Credit Card Conundrum

WSJ June 25 - For the past few years, some of the top economic minds in academia and government have been fretting over the same question: How to get Chinese consumers to spend more?

Experts both in China and elsewhere agree that China's economy is dangerously imbalanced, and that what the country needs to rebalance its economy is a major increase in domestic consumption.

In the U.S., credit card companies helped create the middle class and the culture of consumerism. Decades ago, Americans, scarred by the memories of the Depression, were big savers. But the baby boom generation, free of the scars of the Depression - and lured by the why-wait, buy-now culture fostered by credit cards -- went on buying binges.

In China, the equivalent of the baby boom is the 'post '80 kids' -- meaning the generation born after the deprivations of the cultural revolution. They are ready to buy more, but they don't have the means. One reason: credit-card usage is very low. About three quarters of Chinese urban middle class families have credit cards, according to a CLSA survey in 2011. But only 9% of Chinese urbanites actually plan to use the cards this year, according to a Boston Consulting Group survey in 2011.

The surveys didn't explain the perplexing behavior. Perhaps Chinese consumers are just experimenting with credit cards, or holding them in case of emergencies.

One company that is trying to get Chinese buyers to become credit card users, not just holders, is Best Buy's Chinese subsidiary , Jiangsu Five Star Appliance. In Qingdao, Five Star stores have credit card application booths staffed by representatives of Bank of China and China Merchants Bank . Applicants can get 30% discounts on their card's first purchase and free kettles with Disney characters printed on them.

Five Star was able to get deals with banks to offer credit cards largely in Jiangsu province, where Five Star's CEO, Nicolas Wang, has strong business relationships. Carving out similar deals with banks outside of that province has proved to be tougher, he says.

Will that change? Mr. Wang says he hopes so, but he hasn't seen many signs of movement.

中国中产阶级为何不喜欢使用信用卡？

2012年 06月 25日

过去几年来，学术界和政界的一些最具经济头脑的人士一直在苦苦思考这样一个相同的问题：如何能让中国消费者多花些钱？

中国和其他国家的专家一致认为，中国的经济处于危险的失衡状态，中国恢复经济平衡所需要的是国内消费的大幅增长。

在美国，信用卡公司曾帮助催生了中产阶级和消费主义文化。几十年前，仍对大萧条心有余悸的美国人也曾是储蓄大户。不过，婴儿潮一代人没有经历过大萧条，在信用卡催生的“为什么等待、现在就消费”文化的诱惑下，走上了疯狂消费之路。

在中国，与美国婴儿潮一代类似的是80后，也就是文化大革命一穷二白的时期之后出生的一代人。80后愿意更多地购物，但他们没有更多购物的工具。原因之一是信用卡的使用率非常低。据里昂证券(CLSA) 2011年进行的一项调查显示，中国城市中产阶级家庭中约有四分之三有信用卡。但据波士顿咨询公司(Boston Consulting Group)2011年进行的一项调查显示，只有9%的中国城市家庭今年确实计划使用信用卡消费。

上述两项调查没有说明为何会出现这种令人费解的现象。或许中国消费者只是在开始尝试使用信用卡，抑或持有信用卡只是为了应急之需。

百思买(Best Buy)中国子公司江苏五星电器(Jiangsu Five Star Appliance)正试图将中国消费者转变为信用卡消费者，而不只是信用卡持有人。在青岛，五星电器门店设有中国银行和招商银行信用卡申请点。申请者首次刷卡购物时可以享受七折优惠，并可获得印有迪士尼卡通形象的免费水壶。

五星电器还与多家银行达成了协议，主要在江苏省提供信用卡服务。在江苏，五星电器首席执行长王健有着很强的商业关系。他说，事实证明，与其它省市的银行达成类似协议的难度更大。

这种局面会改变吗？王健说，他希望会改变，但还没有看到太多改变的迹象。