China Merchants Bank and AirPlus Enter into Strategic Partnership

Business Wire, Oct 2, 2006

Integration of AirPlus data with local Chinese and international transaction data leads to more efficient corporate travel management

SHANGHAI, China & WASHINGTON -- China Merchants Bank (CMB), the largest credit card issuing bank in China, and AirPlus International, a leading international provider of business travel payment solutions, have signed a corporate agreement, entering into a strategic partnership in the Chinese market to offer a new corporate card. The agreement illustrates both parties' commitment to making the settlement of business travel expenses as convenient as possible; corporate customers will be given the opportunity to use a unique payment solution that helps them manage their corporate travel spend with greater efficiency. The product will be released this month.

"The launch of this partnership represents an industry first with the largest dual-currency credit card issuing bank in mainland China," said Mr. Richard Crum, President and CEO of AirPlus International, Inc. "The corporate card provides businesses with both local Chinese and international data that is required for comprehensive analyses of their travel-related expenses. With this consolidated data, customers can greatly improve the efficiency of their business travel management, saving time and achieving the target of tangible cost reduction."

Mr. Chi Wei Joong, General Manager of CMB Credit Card Center, said, "The launch of the partnership with AirPlus International is a milestone for us to provide the best and most innovative service to our customers in the field of business travel management. With the brand influence of China Merchants Bank's credit card, as well as the technical advantages of AirPlus International, the global leader in business travel payment solutions, we believe the cooperation can help us become the leading corporate payment platform in China, and provide the best corporate card service for more corporate customers."

Businesses will have access to all data generated by this new payment solution, including flight, hotel and car rental data. All of the data will be consolidated and accessible online in the AirPlus Information Manager, a software that allows companies to perform detailed analyses of their travel spend. Through the AirPlus Information Manager, businesses can generate customizable reports and identify vast saving potentials - an excellent basis for price negotiations with airlines, hotels, car rental companies and other travel-related service providers.

This corporate card is based on the CMB Gold Card and carries enhanced functionalities. Billing and settlement currencies are both the Chinese Yuan (CNY/RMB) and the U.S. Dollar (USD) - local transactions are billed and settled in CNY/RMB, international transactions are billed in USD, and can be settled either in CNY/RMB or USD. The corporate card can be used to access funds at ATMs within China as well as abroad. Additionally, China Merchants Bank will offer a customer loyalty program, tailored specifically to the needs of the business traveler.

About AirPlus International

With more than 30,000 corporate customers worldwide AirPlus International is a global leader in business travel payment solutions, offering central payment accounts, corporate cards and online management tools. AirPlus is the preferred payment partner of airlines including British Airways, Continental Airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and TAP Portugal. AirPlus is the world's largest issuer of UATP. For more information, please contact Amy Padgett at apadgett@airplus.com, or at 1 703-373-0947.

About China Merchants Bank

Founded on April 8, 1987 with its head office in Shenzhen, China Merchants Bank is the first share-holding commercial bank wholly owned by corporate legal entities. Since its establishment, the bank has undergone capital enlargement by 4 times, and launched IPO with the issuance of 1.5 billion common shares in March 2002, and was successfully listed in Shanghai Stock Exchange on April 9, 2002 (Stock trading Code: 600036). It is the first listed company that has passed external auditing appraisal based on the international accounting standard. At present, the total asset of China Merchants Bank is above 700 billion RMB, and it is ranked in the top 150 among "the world 1000 banks" by British financial journal "The Banker". For further information please contact Ms. Ivy Wu, Finance & Planning Department of Credit Card Center CMB, tel: 86 21 38834600 ext. 58603; E-mail: ivy_wu@cmbchina.com.