UnionPay International announced on Thursday that the number of UnionPay cards issued outside the Chinese Mainland has exceeded 100 million. The volume of transactions made with these overseas-issued UnionPay cards has grown by over 40% during the first three quarters of this year. In some markets outside mainland China, over 90% of the transactions made with locally-issued UnionPay cards happen locally.
UnionPay card is also apparently playing an increasingly important role in the daily life of customers outside mainland China. In markets like Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia, South Korea, Pakistan, and Central Asia, over 90% of the transactions made with locally-issued UnionPay cards happen locally in terms of volume.
With China being the third largest inbound tourism host country in the world, UnionPay is also providing payment convenience to overseas guests whom visit China. UnionPay RMB cards and dual-currency cards have been issued in about 20 countries and regions outside mainland China, saving the costs induced by currency conversion for overseas customers.
In recent years, UnionPay International has taken multiple measures to continuously improve the payment experience of cardholders outside mainland China. Firstly, it has enriched its overseas card portfolio and has launched premium card products, such as Themed Cards and Commercial Cards, to meet the diverse needs of overseas customers.
In bid to improve its card-using services and benefits for overseas cardholders, Union Pay is launching innovative payment products that are safe and flexible to meet the changing payment habits of overseas customers. UnionPay cardholders in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam can bind the locally-issued UnionPay cards to local mobile payment applications to pay by scanning UnionPay QR codes at merchants.
Meanwhile, UnionPay International shared that it is accelerating the construction of its digital card issuance system based on e-wallet applications.
Starting this September, UnionPay International partnered with the Singapore payment services group NETS to upgrade the local e-wallet NETSPay. Local consumers can download and register the e-wallet and enjoy UnionPay mobile payment service both in and outside Singapore. Next, UnionPay will launch more e-wallet products in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and the Americas.
