China lifts credit-card overdraft interest rates limits

BEIJING -- China's central bank has removed the upper and lower limits on credit-card overdraft interest rates from Jan 1 this year, Shanghai Securities News reported on Saturday.

The credit card issuers can decide their own interest rates for credit card overdrafts. Before this, the upper limit was 0.05 percent per day (equivalent to 18.25 percent per year), and the lower limit was 0.7 times the upper limit.

The credit card issuers should fully disclose and update the interest rates of credit card overdraft through their official websites and other channels, the central bank said.

When disclosing the information, the credit card issuers should display the annual interest rates in an obvious way, instead of only displaying the daily interest rates and daily payment amounts, the central bank said.