PR88583

SHANGHAI, March 19, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

UnionPay International (UPI) announced today that with significant progress in

Latin America, UnionPay acceptance network has now extended to 180 countries

and regions, over half of which accept UnionPay mobile payments. As many as 55

million merchants worldwide take UnionPay cards. According to a report released

by RBR , UnionPay is among the most widely accepted card brands in the world.

With its vast network, UPI is striving to serve more overseas residents,

facilitate China's exchange with other countries, and boost the internal and

external circulations. A total of more than 150 million UnionPay cards have

been issued in 67 countries and regions outside Mainland China. Meanwhile,

UnionPay is leading the development of digital payment in some of the Asia

Pacific countries and regions through its services offered to local consumers.

Expanding the Width and Depth of the Global Acceptance Network

'Since the COVID-19 outbreak, UPI has been developing use cases for

contact-free transactions. Such moves are meant to meet the diverse payment

needs of overseas UnionPay cardholders in these challenging times.

Three million merchants outside Mainland China were enabled for UnionPay card

acceptance last year, boosting the coverage in Europe, North America, and the

Asia Pacific to 70%, 70%, and 90% respectively. UnionPay QR payment or mobile

QuickPass are now supported by more than eight million merchants in 93

countries and regions outside Mainland China, including over 30 new markets

such as Brazil, Hungary and Tajikistan. The number of UnionPay QR code

merchants has doubled.

UnionPay cards are now supported by nearly 22 million online merchants in more

than 200 overseas markets. UnionPay enables cardholders to make payments in the

comfort of their homes by providing distinctive payment services for use cases

such as food delivery and online tuition payments. In 2020, UPI's online

transaction volume grew by nearly 15% year-on-year.

Moving towards a More International Brand

UnionPay joined hands with Cebuana Lhuillier Rural Bank, a Philippine partner,

to issue six million debit cards at the end of 2020. As the largest UnionPay

card issuance project in the Belt and Road markets last year, this

collaboration demonstrates UPI's stronger commitment to business localization

through working closely with overseas partners.

All UnionPay card issuance projects have been implemented as scheduled in

markets including Russia, Mongolia, and Africa, with more than 20 million cards

issued last year. Particularly in the Asia Pacific region, one in four new

cards is branded UnionPay. Despite the YoY drop by two thirds in global air

passenger traffic, the transaction volume of UnionPay cards issued overseas has

grown as the cards are used by local cardholders to make everyday purchases. As

many as 90% of purchases with UnionPay cards issued in Hong Kong SAR, Macao

SAR, South Korea, Pakistan, Russia and Central Asia take place locally.

According to Oriental Daily News in Hong Kong, UnionPay mobile payment products

have recorded significant growth in transaction volume in spite of the decline

in consumer spending in Hong Kong and Macao. Both transaction counts and volume

grew by nearly 400% during the pandemic. The Hong Kong and Macao version of the

UnionPay App launched two years ago has enrolled almost all local UnionPay

issuers, leading to the enablement of UnionPay QR payment in 15 issuer apps.

The UnionPay QR payment, with 1.6 million users in the region, has become one

of the most popular mobile payment services among local residents.

Mobile payment is becoming the focus of cooperation for a growing number of UPI

partners overseas. UPI has launched over 90 mobile payment products in Hong

Kong, Macao and other locations outside Mainland China. Such products take the

forms of the UnionPay App, mobile pay products (or OEM Pay), and QR code

e-wallets. New users, totaled nearly five million last year. Mobile payment

products are used for one in five transactions generated by UnionPay cards

issued overseas.

In recent years, UPI has been enhancing its digital payment capabilities and

launched more than 20 digital payment service platforms, offering whole-process

technical support to its partners in conducting UnionPay business. In

particular, such platforms have improved the efficiency of rolling out mobile

payment services.

SOURCE  UnionPay International