In May 2024, CITIC Bank seized the first-mover advantage: it was the first to officially announce the MasterCard RMB/USD dual-currency debit card, now referred to as the MasterCard RMB debit card.

Interestingly, CITIC directly labeled it as "The First in the Country", clearly aiming to be the first to market.

So I'll also be the first to try it out—let's get a card and have some fun.

Card Application

Applying for a CITIC card online is very simple. For a debit card, just go to the CITIC Bank APP homepage → All Services → Bank Card Supermarket to apply. The MasterCard Dual Currency Card you want to apply for is in the Standard Card Series. In the same category, there are also three CITIC UnionPay card types, as well as the American Express RMB card (previously covered), MasterCard foreign currency card, and VISA foreign currency card.

Press Apply Card, and it will automatically jump to the form page. Just fill in the form according to the prompts on the page.

Applying for the card costs 5 RMB, which will be directly credited to your account afterward.

After filling out the form, just wait at home. You will then receive the card as shown below.

CITIC even made a separate packaging for this card (I lost the packaging), which shows that CITIC at least invested in the design.

The BIN is 522401, and the card is valid for only five years. However, CITIC allows card replacement and renewal without visiting a branch—just fill in the card number, CVV, and identity information in the APP. This means that if there are no other issues, you only need to go to a branch once to get this card in hand.

Branch Activation

I went to the branch for activation because I, being a fool, entered the front number incorrectly three times while replacing the Amex card, causing it to be locked. The main reason for the visit was to resolve that issue, so I activated this MasterCard card at the counter as a side task. The staff didn't ask me many questions—probably just copied the information from the Amex card. In short, the card activation was smooth.

Usage

Binding to Google Play works normally, binding to WeChat and Alipay works normally, binding to Pixiv succeeded but I haven't tried making a purchase, and binding to PayPal failed—again the recurring issue of high decline rates.

Afterword

CITIC, your decline rate is just... I'm speechless. You did two good things, but then this happens.

So I'll have to resort to some unconventional methods (wait for future posts).