MasterCard is planning to apply for a payment license in China this year after the country opened its market to foreign providers, senior executives revealed on Friday, according to Reuters.

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Ann Cairns, president of international markets, said that China is "pretty crucial" to their future, but they are still "trying to understand the rules." She said they are still pondering whether to team up with a local or do it alone.

"Certain things inside the rules - such as the new cyber rules, which need more development and understanding how they're going to work," she elaborated.

Cairns stressed that MasterCard would like to enter the Chinese market as soon as possible and revealed that they are already coming up with a business plan. In fact, the American financial service provider hopes to submit its application within the year.

However, Ling Hai, co-president for Asia-Pacific, said it is not a guarantee as "there is so much uncertainty and variability in the process. Something that should take one year can take two years."

The Chinese government recently relaxed its rules and opened its market to foreign providers, giving the likes of Visa and MasterCard an opportunity to enter China's 55 trillion yuan ($8.4 trillion) card payment market.

Under the new policy, a foreign company needs to meet the national security and cyber security standards to gain a license in China. Furthermore, it must hold at least 1 billion yuan ($150 million) in registered capital in a local entity.

For more than a decade, payment network giants like Visa and MasterCard have been eager to get a share China's huge cards industry, which many analysts predict to become the world's biggest by 2020. Currently, China credit and debit cards sector is dominated by state-owned China UnionPay Co.

TagsMasterCard, payment license, Credit Card, debit card, visa, UnionPay