On May 13, Bank of China's official credit card WeChat account announced that its dedicated app "Colorful Life" will completely cease service on June 30, 2026, with its functions being migrated to the main "Bank of China" app. This makes Bank of China the first major state-owned bank to shut down an independent credit card application.
This is not an isolated case. Since 2024, several regional banks, including Bohai Bank, Bank of Jiangxi, Beijing Rural Commercial Bank, Sichuan Rural Credit Union, and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, have successively discontinued their credit card apps. Postal Savings Bank of China also announced in December 2025 the integration of its "PSBC Credit Card APP."
The widespread move by banks to "cut" standalone credit card apps reflects deeper challenges within the credit card business: slowing growth and a persistent decline in user activity, signaling an accelerated industry shift into a phase of intense competition for existing customers.
"The Ebb Tide": Shifting User Habits and Widespread Pressure on Monthly Active Users "Colorful Life" was the official client application for Bank of China's credit cards, offering services such as credit card account management, bill inquiry and repayment, mobile payments, point redemption, installment shopping malls, as well as various merchant discounts and lifestyle information.
Launched around 2012, it had been upgraded to version 6.0 by 2024.
In September 2025, Bank of China had already announced the initiation of service migration for the "Colorful Life" app, with all its functions to be gradually transferred to the "Bank of China" app. Upon completion of the migration, the "Colorful Life" app would stop downloads and registrations and gradually shut down services.
Currently, searches for the "Colorful Life" app in the Apple App Store and Huawei AppGallery yield no results.
The discontinuation of credit card apps is not uncommon in recent years. In 2025 alone, multiple institutions including Bank of Jiangxi, Beijing Rural Commercial Bank, Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Sichuan Rural Credit Union, and China Resources Bank announced plans to shut down or merge their credit card apps into their main mobile banking platforms.
From a user perspective, such apps have long faced an awkward position. Many credit card users note that needs like checking bills, making repayments, and redeeming points can be fulfilled through WeChat, Alipay, or their main mobile banking app, eliminating the necessity to download an infrequently used application for a single card.
This shift in user habits is reflected in the monthly active user data of major banks.
China CITIC Bank's 2025 annual report disclosed that the monthly active users of its credit card app "Card Space" were 19.7647 million, a decrease of over 2.7 million from 22.4694 million in 2024. Although registered users for Huaxia Bank's "Brilliant Life" app increased by 8.19% year-on-year, monthly active users declined by 7.55% to 3.6418 million.
However, China Merchants Bank's credit card app "CMB Life" stands out as one of the few showing growth against the trend. Its monthly active users increased slightly from 40.4446 million in 2024 to 40.7209 million, demonstrating strong user retention and operational capability.
Among major banks, Postal Savings Bank of China also announced in December 2025 that it would adjust its credit card online channel services based on business development needs. After integration, customers would no longer be able to use the "PSBC Credit Card APP."
As of now, PSBC has not yet removed this app from stores nor disclosed further progress. However, its 2025 annual report indicates that within the PSBC Mobile Banking version 11.0, credit card scenarios have been expanded and the credit card channel has been upgraded.
"Slimming Down": Widespread Decline in Major Banks' Credit Card Balances and Spending The other side of declining monthly active users is the continued contraction of the overall credit card scale.
Pressure has been evident in Bank of China's own operational data. As of the end of 2025, Bank of China's credit card loan balance decreased by 18% year-on-year to 4.86005 trillion yuan, with both annual cumulative credit card spending and installment transaction volumes also showing double-digit year-on-year declines.
Data from other major state-owned banks and the "retail king," China Merchants Bank, are similarly concerning. According to the latest annual reports from these banks, two key metrics—credit card loan balances and annual cumulative credit card spending—have shown year-on-year declines.
Specifically, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's credit card outstanding balance was 697.535 billion yuan, down 10.04% year-on-year, while its credit card spending was 1.83 trillion yuan, down 14.08% year-on-year. The declines in Postal Savings Bank of China's credit card loan balance and Bank of Communications' annual credit card spending also exceeded 10%.
Nevertheless, in 2025, Bank of China achieved growth of over 2 million in cumulative credit card issuances, reaching 150.0975 million cards. Both in total volume and incremental growth, Bank of China's figures lead the industry.
During the same period, Bank of Communications and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China saw their card-in-force numbers decrease by over 5 million each within a year, while China Construction Bank's count decreased by 3 million.
According to data from the People's Bank of China's "Overall Operation of the Payment System in 2025," by the end of 2025, the number of credit cards and combined credit-debit cards nationwide had fallen to 696 million, a decrease of approximately 31 million from the end of 2024 and a cumulative reduction of 111 million from the historical peak in the third quarter of 2022.
However, contraction does not equate to demise; it represents necessary "slimming down."
In the first four months of 2026, banks including Bank of Communications, China Minsheng Bank, and China Guangfa Bank announced the discontinuation of over 42 credit card products, the vast majority being co-branded cards and themed cards. Co-branded cards were once a powerful tool for banks to reach younger customer segments, but they often suffer from short lifecycles, low activity, and high costs.
By eliminating redundant apps, ineffective products, and inefficient channels, banks can concentrate resources on areas that truly create value: enhancing user activity, optimizing the card usage experience, and deepening engagement in high-frequency scenarios.
The credit card industry is moving away from its past growth logic, ushering in a new era characterized by greater efficiency, sharper focus, and an increased emphasis on managing existing customer relationships.
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