As a core stronghold of China Merchants Bank's (600036.SH) retail business, the credit card center is experiencing a critical leadership shake-up.
According to media reports, Liu Jialong, a 30-year veteran of CMB who had previously led the credit card center on three separate occasions, has retired due to reaching retirement age and has transitioned to a role as an advisor to the credit card center. Meanwhile, Li Mingdong, the General Manager of the Wealth Platform Department, will be transferred to the front lines of the slowing credit card business to take over as General Manager of the Credit Card Center. Concurrently, Lu Xiaorong, General Manager of the Retail Headquarters, will additionally assume the role of General Manager of the Wealth Platform Department.
Although China Merchants Bank's credit card transaction volume remains the highest in the market, reaching 2.02 trillion yuan in the first half of 2025, its number of circulating cards has been shrinking for three consecutive years. From 2022 to 2024, the figures were 103 million, 97.12 million, and 96.86 million cards, corresponding to credit card transaction volumes of 4.84 trillion yuan, 4.81 trillion yuan, and 4.42 trillion yuan, respectively.
Furthermore, the Q3 2025 report showed that CMB's bank card手续费 income decreased by 17.07% year-on-year, while settlement and clearing fee income fell by 4.55%, with both declines primarily attributed to a drop in credit card-related revenue.
The retirement of an industry veteran and the cross-functional appointment of a wealth management expert underscore the expectations placed on China Merchants Bank's credit card unit to find a new growth narrative amidst multiple pressures, including a shrinking scale, declining revenue, and high levels of customer complaints.
Liu Jialong Retires After Third Stint at Helm; Li Mingdong Takes Over CMB Credit Card Center
Public information indicates that Liu Jialong graduated from the Industrial Economics Department of Renmin University of China with a master's degree in economics. Having joined China Merchants Bank in 1996, he is a veteran figure in the credit card industry, having previously served as Deputy Head of CMB's Beijing Branch, Chief Business Director and Head of the Retail Finance Headquarters at the head office, as well as Chairman and General Manager of the Credit Card Center.
It is noteworthy that Liu Jialong has been appointed General Manager of the CMB Credit Card Center on three separate occasions.
From 2009 to 2015, Liu Jialong served as General Manager of the Credit Card Center for the first time. At that time, CMB stated that 2009 was the first year of its comprehensive credit card business transformation, shifting the overall business model from a "rapid expansion" approach focused primarily on acquiring new customers towards a more balanced, diversified, and customer segment-oriented "intensive cultivation" model.
During this period, in 2010, CMB Credit Card took the lead in the industry by formulating a "mobile-first strategy" and developed the industry's first mobile app, "CMB Life." In 2013, it pioneered the launch of an intelligent customer service platform and首创 the "WeChat Customer Service" model.
From December 2018 to 2020, Liu Jialong served as General Manager of the Credit Card Center for the second time. In March 2024, after the former Credit Card Center General Manager Wang Bo was appointed Head of CMB's Hangzhou Branch, Liu Jialong, as Chairman of the Credit Card Center, assumed the role of General Manager for the third time until the recent leadership change.
Wang Pengbo, Chief Financial Industry Analyst at Broadcom Consulting, believes that "Liu Jialong's retirement has a profound impact on CMB's credit card business strategy and risk control system. It may bring a period of adjustment for management in the short term, but as he has transitioned to an advisory role, he can still provide experiential support in product design, risk strategy, and organizational culture continuity, particularly offering ongoing guidance in the synergy between credit cards and the broader retail business, as well as digital transformation pathways."
The successor, Li Mingdong, holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Nanjing University and a Bachelor's degree in Economics (Public Finance) from Shandong University. With long-term, deep experience in retail finance and wealth management, and复合 experience spanning head office, branches, and multiple business segments, he is regarded as one of the key figures in CMB's retail strategic transformation.
Specifically, Li Mingdong has previously worked at CMB's Nanjing Branch and Shenzhen Branch; he has served as General Manager of the Head Office Wealth Management Department and General Manager of the Head Office Risk Management Department. Since 2022, he has been General Manager of the Head Office Wealth Platform Department. In early 2024, following an adjustment to CMB's retail finance organizational structure which involved establishing a new Retail Customer Segment Department, Li Mingdong also assumed the role of its General Manager. Furthermore, Li Mingdong's履历 includes directorships at several CMB-affiliated institutions, such as CMC Consumer Finance, CMB Financial Leasing, Cigna & CMB Life Insurance Asset Management, and CMB Wealth Management.
The key to Li Mingdong's appointment likely lies in打通 the customer base synergy between wealth management and credit card business. Yu Fenghui, a specially invited researcher at the China Financial Think Tank, stated, "Given his深厚 background in retail finance, wealth management, and risk control, Li Mingdong is expected to make certain team adjustments to adapt to the new management style and strategic direction. He can leverage his multi-domain experience to enhance the personalized service and risk management capabilities of credit card products through refined operations, for instance, by strengthening data analysis to identify customer needs more accurately, while simultaneously optimizing cost structures and improving operational efficiency."
Following Li Mingdong's new appointment, the vacant position of General Manager of the Wealth Platform Department will be concurrently held by Lu Xiaorong, General Manager of the Head Office Retail Finance Headquarters. Lu Xiaorong has worked at CMB for over 20 years, having previously served as General Manager of the Credit Risk Management Department and Director of the Data Analysis Center at the Credit Card Center, Assistant General Manager, and Deputy General Manager of the Credit Card Center. In March 2025, Lu Xiaorong was promoted from Deputy General Manager to General Manager of the Retail Finance Headquarters, and since August of the same year, she has also served as a Non-Executive Director of CMB Wing Lung Bank.
Credit Card Transaction Volume Leads, But Card Issuance Shrinks by 5.85 Million Over Three Years
In the credit card domain, China Merchants Bank has long been at the forefront of the industry, demonstrating significant advantages in transaction scale, card issuance, and ecosystem development. In the first half of 2025, although CMB's credit card transaction volume decreased by 8.54% year-on-year, it still led the industry at 2.02 trillion yuan.
However, as the economic cycle evolves, the credit card industry is gradually moving away from an era of high-speed growth. The latest data from the People's Bank of China shows that as of the end of 2024, the total number of credit cards and combo cards nationwide decreased by 5.14% compared to the end of 2023. By the end of September 2025, the number of credit and combo cards in China had fallen to 707 million, down from 807 million at the end of September 2022, a reduction of 100 million cards over three years.
Concurrently, macroeconomic fluctuations have led to a significant "rationalization" shift in public consumption behavior, posing direct challenges to the credit card business, which has long relied on large-ticket transactions for growth, thereby creating new pressures for sustained transaction volume expansion. Against this backdrop, even industry leaders like China Merchants Bank face growth pressures in their credit card business, with some key metrics showing declines.
From 2022 to 2024, China Merchants Bank's number of circulating cards was 103 million, 97.12 million, and 96.86 million, respectively, corresponding to credit card transaction volumes of 4.84 trillion yuan, 4.81 trillion yuan, and 4.42 trillion yuan. In the first half of 2025, CMB's number of circulating credit cards increased slightly from the beginning of the year to 96.9267 million, with 69.6332 million circulating households. However, credit card interest income was 30.612 billion yuan, down 4.96% year-on-year, while credit card non-interest income was 10.471 billion yuan, down 16.23% year-on-year.
Additionally, in the first three quarters of 2025, China Merchants Bank achieved operating income of 251.42 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.51% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 113.772 billion yuan, an increase of 0.52% year-on-year. Net interest income was 160.042 billion yuan, up 1.74% year-on-year, while net non-interest income was 91.378 billion yuan, down 4.23% year-on-year.
Within net non-interest income, bank card fee income was 10.526 billion yuan, down 17.07% year-on-year, and settlement and clearing fee income was 11.111 billion yuan, down 4.55% year-on-year, with both declines primarily due to the decrease in credit card-related income.
Wang Pengbo pointed out, "The consecutive decline in circulating card numbers reflects increasing difficulty in customer acquisition and insufficient activity among existing customers. In the future, it is necessary to strengthen scenario embedding, for example, by increasing card usage frequency through high-frequency consumption ecosystems like dining and movie tickets, while optimizing segmented operations for younger customer groups, combining precise targeting through digital channels, and promoting the deep integration of co-branded cards with niche markets to drive new card issuance."
In practice, China Merchants Bank is also continuously advancing product innovation and scenario upgrades. Since 2025, it has successively launched特色 products such as the Starbucks co-branded card and the American Express Engineer Credit Card, linking them with diverse consumption scenarios like Tmall Supermarket and Bilibili, and叠加 activities like installment payment discounts and exclusive benefits for new customers to continuously enhance customer group activity and stickiness.
The weakness in the credit card business has also impacted China Merchants Bank's retail finance operations. In the first half of 2025, CMB's retail finance business operating income was 93.27 billion yuan, down 0.7% year-on-year, accounting for 61.56% of total operating income; pre-tax profit was 49.977 billion yuan, a marginal increase of 0.02% year-on-year.
At the H1 2025 results briefing, Wang Ying, Deputy President of China Merchants Bank overseeing retail business, stated that the development of CMB's retail sector rests on three key pillars: technological capability, team building, and values. In recent years, CMB has increased its focus on payment and settlement within its retail business,基本上 completed the iteration and upgrade of a new "human + digital" retail service model over a year and a half, and focused on human-machine collaboration, with plans for continued advancement in the future.
It is worth noting that in the first three quarters of 2025, China Merchants Bank's newly generated non-performing loans amounted to 48.003 billion yuan, a decrease of 202 million yuan year-on-year. Among these, newly generated NPLs for retail loans (excluding credit cards) were 16.263 billion yuan, an increase of 5.552 billion yuan year-on-year. Although newly generated NPLs for credit cards decreased by 592 million yuan year-on-year, they still reached a high of 29.153 billion yuan.
Wang Pengbo analyzed, "The increase in newly generated NPLs for retail loans is mainly affected by pressure on the asset quality of mortgages and consumer loans. The decrease in credit card NPLs benefits from CMB's recent tightening of credit standards, enhanced early warning systems, and improved collection efficiency. The different asset attributes and cycle sensitivity account for the divergence; the small-amount, dispersed nature of credit card loans makes them relatively more resilient during economic fluctuations."
Yu Fenghui commented, "Retail loans are significantly affected by the macroeconomic environment, especially under downward economic pressure, as individuals' debt repayment capacity may be impacted. The credit card business, through continuous risk control measures and the application of technological means, has effectively reduced the default rate. This also reflects CMB's advantages in credit card risk management."
As of the first half of 2025, the non-performing loan ratio for China Merchants Bank's credit card business was 1.75%, unchanged from the end of 2024, but significantly higher than the bank's overall NPL ratio of 0.93%. However, compared to other joint-stock banks that have disclosed figures, CMB's credit card NPL ratio is at a relatively low level; for instance, Industrial Bank reported 3.28% and CITIC Bank reported 2.73% for this metric.
Receives 55,000 Complaints in One Year
Beyond these challenges, a high volume of customer complaints is another significant issue for China Merchants Bank's credit card business.
In 2024, China Merchants Bank received a total of 206,000 consumer complaints across all channels, including regulatory channels, the 95555 hotline, credit card center channels, and others. Complaints related to credit card business accounted for 26.74% of this total, calculated to be approximately 55,000 complaints.
On the Black Cat Complaints platform, searching for the keyword "招商银行信用卡" yields over 36,000 entries. The complaint volume significantly leads peers like CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, and Industrial Bank. The main issues raised in complaints involve "unauthorized deductions," "aggressive debt collection," and "false advertising," among others.
For example, on January 16, 2026, a user claimed that after applying for a CMB credit card through staff in 2018, they made minimum payments each month via the CMB Life app. The user alleged that the bank did not disclose interest rates and repayment costs in advance and deducted fees without their knowledge, totaling approximately 23,000 yuan unauthorized deductions by CMB Credit Card to date.
Another user complained on January 8, 2026, stating, "CMB Credit Card forcibly charges high interest, with bill interest exceeding 1000 yuan. The total interest and installment fees charged have even surpassed the credit card's original limit," demanding that the bank refund these interest and installment charges.
Wang Pengbo pointed out, "The high complaint volume indicates that there is still room for improvement in debt collection compliance and fee disclosure mechanisms. Banks should strengthen the management of outsourced collection agencies, standardize communication scripts and behavioral norms, while also optimizing bill structures and app information display to enhance transparency. Establishing rapid response channels can help mitigate reputational risks and strengthen customer trust."
Yu Fenghui also stated, "In facing the complaint issues, China Merchants Bank needs to take proactive measures to improve the situation. Firstly, it should establish健全 internal supervision mechanisms and strengthen the management and monitoring of partner institutions. Secondly, it should promptly investigate and verify specific complaint contents and deal seriously with any违规行为. Simultaneously, strengthening consumer education to improve clients' understanding of borrowing costs and service terms is also an effective way to reduce misunderstandings and disputes."
China Merchants Bank built its success on retail business, and the光环 of having the largest credit card transaction volume in the market remains. However, key data points including card issuance, transaction volume, and fee and interest income have been contracting for years, coupled with facing a high volume of complaints. With this leadership change, whether Li Mingdong can find a new growth engine for the credit card business remains a question worthy of anticipation.
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