The branches and foreign exchange administrative departments of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) in all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; the branches in Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Xiamen, and Ningbo; all national banks, and China UnionPay Co., Ltd.:  

In accordance with the Circular of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Financial Institutions Reporting Information on Overseas Transactions with Bank Cards (Huifa No. 15 [2017]), the issues concerning the commissioning, acceptance review and trial run for the domestic card issuing financial institutions (issuing bank) accessing the foreign exchange administration system for overseas transactions with bank cards (bank card administration system) are notified as follows:

I. Commissioning schedule

(I) Preparation for the access of issuing banks

1. Issuing banks shall be responsible for the development of interface programs. They shall retrieve from their own systems the original transaction data through the interface program and generate standard data files as required. Data files in XML shall be reported through data interface and those in XLS (i.e. excel files) through screen.

Issuing banks shall develop a program to process errors reported by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) and re-report in time, as well as saving and handling the records from the SAFE on overseas transactions with banks cards that violate regulations.

2. Issuing banks shall be connected to the SAFE through leased lines and apply to local SAFE branches or administrative departments (SAFE branches) for the financial institution code and the head office-level financial institution identification code.

(II) Commissioning requirements

1. The SAFE shall provide issuing banks with the testing environment of the bank card administration system (bank edition) to be used for the commissioning of the access program and acceptance review.

2. Issuing banks shall configure the system in accordance with the Handbook for Configuring Testing Environment of the Foreign Exchange Administration System for Overseas Transactions with Bank Cards (Bank Edition) (visit the SAFE's bank information portal at http://banksvc.safe for "downloads", or apply to local SAFE branches, the same below for obtaining files and forms), and then visit the testing environment of the bank card administration system (bank edition), with the method detailed in the User Manual on Testing Environment of the Foreign Exchange Administration System for Overseas Transactions with Bank Cards (Bank Edition).  

3. Issuing banks who use the SAFE's MTS to report data through the data interface also need to apply to the local SAFE branches for opening the MTS commissioning environment for the bank card administration system. Moreover, they shall complete configuration and access in accordance with the MTS Installation and Deployment Handbook (Bank Edition) and MTS Business Interface Configuration Manual, with the way to use MTS detailed in the User Manual of MTS for Banks.

4. All the issuing banks that report data through data interface or screen shall conduct commissioning in accordance with the Scheme for Interface Program Commissioning for the Foreign Exchange Administration System for Overseas Transactions with Bank Cards.  

II. Acceptance review schedule

(I) Issuing banks shall pass the acceptance review by the SAFE before officially accessing the system. Subject to the organization by the SAFE, acceptance review shall be carried out by SAFE branches, who shall arrange for the participation of staff from the balance of payments and technical departments in the acceptance review and conduct acceptance review in the domicile of the legal persons of issuing banks. For the process of acceptance review, please refer to the Acceptance Review Requirements for the Interface Program of the Foreign Exchange Administration System for Overseas Transactions with Bank Cards (Acceptance Review Requirements).

(II) Satisfying relevant conditions in the Acceptance Review Requirements, issuing banks shall apply to the local SAFE branch for acceptance review.

(III) Issuing banks who fail to pass the acceptance review shall organize rectification in time, and reapply for acceptance review after rectification. They shall pass the acceptance review no later than August 21, 2017. Issuing banks shall report the modification of their own systems or interface programs to the local SAFE branch in time. In case of significant modifications, SAFE branches may require acceptance review again.

III. Trial run schedule

(I) The SAFE will organize trial run of the bank card administration system between August 21 and August 31, 2017.

(II) SAFE branches shall complete acceptance review of the issuing banks within their jurisdictions before August 21, 2017. They shall apply for the opening of the access to the MTS production environment for the bank card administration system for issuing banks within their jurisdictions that pass the acceptance review, in accordance with the Explanations on the Commissioning and Launch of MTS. At the same time, they shall complete the business entry work for issuing banks within their jurisdictions that pass the acceptance review in the bank card administration system (SAFE edition).

(III) Issuing banks shall complete network configuration, environment setting for customers and user maintenance no later than August 21, 2017, and log on to the bank card administration system (bank edition) at the SAFE's bank information portal to maintain basic information. For the operation of the setup for access to the bank card administration system (bank edition), please refer to the Setup Manual for Access to Foreign Exchange Application System (bank edition).  

(IV) From August 21 onward, issuing banks shall report the information on overseas transactions with bank cards of the previous day by 12:00 at noon of the second day, Beijing time, in accordance with the rules for data acquisition from overseas transactions with bank cards. Issuing banks that report data through data interface shall configure production environment access in line with the MTS Business Interface Configuration Manual; and those that report data through screen are required to report data in the bank card administration system (bank edition).

(V) SAFE branches shall urge issuing banks within their jurisdictions to ensure smooth trial run, and monitor data reporting by issuing banks in time. For any problems, SAFE branches shall report them to the Balance of Payments Department and the Science and Technology Department of the SAFE.

IV. Other

(I) Any issuing bank that has launched the overseas transaction business with bank cards shall access the bank card foreign exchange administration system to report the information on overseas transactions with bank cards to the SAFE in accordance with the Huifa No. 15 document and this Circular.

Any issuing bank that is not able to access the bank card foreign exchange administration system to report the information on overseas transactions with bank cards to the SAFE shall suspend this business from September 1 until it is able to perform the reporting obligation again.

(II) Domestic financial institutions that will launch the bank card business after September 1, 2017 shall not launch this business before meeting the conditions for accessing the bank card foreign exchange administration system.

V. Upon receipt of this Circular, the SAFE branches shall immediately forward it to the central sub-branches, urban commercial banks, rural commercial banks, wholly foreign-owned banks, Sino-foreign joint venture banks, branches of foreign banks, rural cooperative financial institutions, and village and town banks within their respective jurisdiction.

Tel. for business: 010-68402399, 68402271  

Tel. for technology: 010-68402656, 68402674  

General Affairs Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange  

July 29, 2017