Zhu Ying, who works in Shanghai's bustling No. 1 Department Store, recalled that five years ago, customers would deliberate carefully on the size of wallets, "especially the wealthy people for fear small wallets would lose their shape if bulging with banknotes".

Things are totally different today, Zhang said, noting that shoppers now care more about the slots in a wallet for inserting cards.

Municipal statistics show that by the end of last year, the average member of Shanghai's 16 million population held two bank cards; every 14 bank cards issued in China included one issued by commercial banks in Shanghai.

"Cards make life easier," Jiang Xiufen, 42, told Xinhua. A typical Shanghai wife, Jiang is in control of the family's finances. She used to ask her husband to hand in every penny of his salary and his payroll every month.

But since her husband's company started paying employees though bank cards, she has saved a lot of trouble including some unnecessary quarrels with her husband.

Her satisfaction is shared by outdoor activity providers here who call automatic teller machines (ATM) in cities near their destinations "supply stations". With various bank cards available, they no longer have to carry large amounts of cash on their trips.

Taking account of an increasing demand for bank cards, shrewd businesses and banks have joined to offer promotional packages forcard consumption. Awards usually include an enticing insurance policy, cell phones and automobiles.

Meanwhile, thousands of ATMs have been set up around the prosperous city to offer services around the clock.

More than half of Shanghai's big and medium-sized retailing, tourism and catering units are expected to be able to accept bank cards by 2005. At that time, card consumption in the city will account for around a quarter of retail sales.

Major domestic commercial banks have cashed in on the booming business and established bank and credit card centers in Shanghai.

As for foreign banks, which are not allowed promotional card consumption services, their strategy is to promote bank cards corresponding to high social status to win high-end customers.

A customer with deposit of more than 100,000 US dollars in Citibank will be awarded a CitiGold Card, which allows the holder to enjoy discounts in expensive shops, hotels, gyms and golf clubs.

Professor Hu Weiren, an economist based in Shanghai, said the common use of bank cards marked the dynamic financial activity in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2003)