SHANGHAI: China Merchants Bank (CMB), the country's sixth-largest lender, said it will focus on its credit card business to offset its lack of outlets and compete with State-owned counterparts.

Although the bank has the lead in the country's lucrative credit card business, it intends to pusha its advantage by issuing more options for cardholders, said Chi-wei Joong, head of the lender's credit card centre.

CMB said the circulation of its dual currency-denominated credit cards would reach 10 million at the end of the year, a jump of 100 per cent from December 2005, and account for 35 per cent of the credit card market in China.

Joong attributed the increase to an easier reviewing process, partly due to the nationwide information database for individual credibility started by the central bank in 2005.

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