OREANDA-NEWS. September 1, 2011. As many as 40 million new social security card integrated with financial functions will be issued by Anhui Province by the end of 2015, according to Anhui Provincial Human Resource and Social Security Department (APHRSSD).

The move comes after Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security announced August 30 that several new functions are to be added to social security cards to better serve the public, as new cards will allow holders to complete an array of tasks including withdrawing money from their bank accounts and transferring money between localities like a bank credit card.

Ma'anshan City of Anhui took a step ahead by having already released 100,000 cards with financial function, while other places in the province need to catch up in next five years. Wu Fanglin, person with APHRSSD said that newly released social security cards in future will be integrated with such function, and 5.7 million cards issued before will be updated gradually.

The newly embedded financial functions will facilitate medical care payment, which is the head usage of social security card, as they allow holders to make a more timely and convenient expense settlement. In near future, services will be expanded to enable card holders to use the card to draw pensions and pay for social insurance programs.

As of July this year, 145 million social security cards have been provided for Chinese citizens, and the number is expected to exceed 190 million by the year's end, said the ministry.