American Express is a year ahead of Mastercard and Visa in establishing domestic card operations in China. It received preliminary approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) for a bank card clearing institute license in November 2018. Amex spent the following year working with its joint venture (JV) partner in China, Lianlian Yintong Electronic Payment Company, to create the infrastructure needed to clear and settle card transactions denominated in renminbi. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Amex and Lianlian received permission from the PBOC to apply to multiple regulatory agencies for...