Bank of America to market credit cards in China

“Bank of America Corp. will work with China Construction Bank Corp. to market credit cards in China… BofA will own 37 percent of the joint venture and launch the co-branded cards. BofA will buy the stake after approval from the Chinese government, which plans to change how it regulates joint ventures. ‘For Bank of America, this is a strategic collaboration in one of the fastest-growing economies in the world,’ said BofA CEO Ken Lewis… With a 20 percent market share, China Construction is the second-largest credit-card issuer in China. It has issued a total of 6.34 million credit cards, with 3.22 million cards issued in 2006. In June 2005, BofA bought a 9 percent stake in China Construction in a $3 billion deal. It was the largest purchase of stock in a Chinese bank by an overseas lender. BofA has an option to increase its investment to 19.9 percent. The two banks have since started more than 20 partnership projects, including no-fee cash withdrawals from BofA’s ATM machines in China and improved call centers and retail branches. Bank of America, California’s largest bank, was founded in San Francisco in 1904 as the Bank of Italy by A.P. Giannini. The bank was bought in 1998 by NationsBank, which took the Bank of America name and moved the headquarters to Charlotte, N.C.”