Mei Ri Jing Ji Xin Wen·2025-09-29 14:36Core Viewpoint - The recent decision by China Bank to shut down its "Bountiful Life" app and migrate its functions to the main "China Bank" app reflects a broader trend among banks to consolidate credit card applications due to increasing operational costs and profitability pressures in the credit card business [1][5][6]. Summary by Sections App Shutdown and Migration - China Bank announced the migration of all functions from the "Bountiful Life" app to the "China Bank" app, with the shutdown of the former expected to follow [1][3]. - The "Bountiful Life" app, which primarily served credit card functions, will cease to be available for download and registration after the migration is complete [1][3]. Industry Trends - The trend of consolidating credit card apps is not limited to China Bank; several other banks, including regional and joint-stock banks, have previously shut down their independent credit card apps, moving functionalities to their main banking apps [5][6]. - The Financial Regulatory Authority of China has emphasized the need for financial institutions to optimize or terminate low-activity and redundant mobile applications [3]. User Engagement and App Performance - The "Bountiful Life" app had a monthly active user count of 1.5454 million, ranking 13th among credit card apps, significantly lower than the top five apps, which each had over 10 million active users [3][4]. - The top five credit card apps by active users are: 1. "Palm Life" with 48.9945 million 2. "Pu Da Xi Ben" with 26.9210 million 3. "Buy Now" with 18.5290 million 4. "Sunshine Benefits" with 14.9554 million 5. "Dynamic Card Space" with 14.7435 million [4]. Cost Efficiency and Strategic Shift - The current wave of app consolidation is driven by the need for cost reduction and efficiency improvements, contrasting with earlier strategies that focused on leveraging high user engagement from independent credit card apps to boost overall retail banking growth [6]. - The profitability pressures in the credit card sector, exacerbated by low interest rates and risk exposure, have made maintaining separate apps economically unfeasible for many banks [6].