UnionPay

UnionPay
Public
Industry Banking, Finance
Founded 26 March 2002 (2002-03-26)
Headquarters Pudong, Shanghai, China
Website www.unionpayintl.com/en/

UnionPay (Chinese: 银联; pinyin: Yínlián), also known as China UnionPay (Chinese: 中国银联; pinyin: Zhōngguó Yínlián) or by its abbreviation, CUP, is a Chinese financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card scheme in mainland China. Founded on March 26, 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry, operating under the approval of the People's Bank of China (PBOC, central bank of China).[1] It is also the only interbank network in China that links all the ATMs of all banks throughout the country. It is also an EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale) network.

It is the largest card payment organisation (debit and credit cards combined) in the world, based on payment transactions, schemes and number of cards issued, ahead of Visa and Mastercard[2][3] offering mobile and online payments.[4]

History

UnionPay decal on the door of a dining hall.

With the approval of the People's Bank of China, China UnionPay was launched on March 26, 2002, in Shanghai by PBOC governor Dai Xianglong, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank serving as its first members.[5] However, the concept of a unified Chinese bank card network dates back to 1993, with the formation of the "Golden Card Project" advocated by then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin. UnionPay is considered the descendant of the Golden Card Project, although attempts at unifying China's various credit card and interbank networks have been in place since the 1990s.[6]

In 2014, UnionPay was reported to have been contributing to capital flight from China, through poorly regulated store front operations in Macau.[7]

Global alliance

Starting around 2005, to increase acceptance around the world UnionPay has formed several agreements with other payment networks. Some major examples include:

The CUP logo originated in China prior to the establishment of the CUP network system development early trial run, with a computer and graphics background of the trial operation of the person in accordance with the multiple unity, Heiner Sea, stable development of the concept of vision, commonly known as "angel color". The red, blue, and green color block design was to represent the integration of cooperation, steady flow, and safety assurance. It is accompanied by the Chinese characters for "UnionPay" in white. The logo was first registered in 1997 and launched in Shenzhen trial, the establishment of China UnionPay transferred to China UnionPay.

China UnionPay started limited trial card distribution in March 2001 and the China UnionPay officially opened. By January 2002, many banks and financial institutions began a larger trial in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and other five cities issued with the UnionPay logo bank cards, which gradually extended to the entire country.

On October 18, 2005, China UnionPay announced a new logo, the new card keeps three-color blocks of the old logo with other local elements being adjusted. As well as an increased usage of the English UnionPay wordmark. At present, both card styles are in circulation, with the old identity of the UnionPay cards gradually being replaced.

CUP was initially concerned that overseas merchants might fail to recognise the new logo and refuse to accept new-style UnionPay cards. Therefore, for a period, unified domestic debit and RMB single currency credit cards used the new logo, while international debit cards and dual currency credit cards still used the old logo. From the beginning of 2009, dual-currency credit card banks began to gradually introduce the use of the new UnionPay logo.

QuickPass

Quick Pass Logo

Upon the introduction of EMV chips into China UnionPay cards,[8] banks also introduced QuickPass (Chinese: 闪付) a Contactless smart card feature similar to MasterCard's PayPass or Visa's payWave. The QuickPass can work within many supermarkets and fast food stores and save plenty of time. Quickpass is also supported by several digital wallet providers such as Samsung Pay and Apple Pay.[9]

Online payments

UnionPay is China's first financial-level pre-authorization service for secured transactions. The system allows payment for online shopping at any merchant that accepts UnionPay. During 2014, the total amount of cross-bank transactions of CUP card exceeded 41.1 trillion yuan.

Use abroad

UnionPay cards can be used in 162 countries and regions around the world, making it the third-largest payment network by value of transactions processed, behind Visa and MasterCard.[10] Some UnionPay credit cards are also affiliated with American Express, MasterCard or Visa, and they can be used abroad as an American Express, MasterCard or Visa. UnionPay debit cards, however, can only be used in the UnionPay network and other networks that have signed contracts with UnionPay. Since 2006, China UnionPay cards can be used in over 100 countries outside China.[11]

In May 2005, Discover Network announced an alliance with China UnionPay Network. The two companies have signed a long-term agreement that allows acceptance of Discover Network brand cards at UnionPay ATMs and point-of-sale terminals in China and acceptance of China UnionPay cards on the PULSE network in the U.S.[12] As of November 1, 2007, China UnionPay cards may be accepted where Discover Network Cards are accepted in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.[13] As of early 2013, the cross acceptance agreement was expanded to support e-commerce or card-not-present transactions.

In March 2010, PayPal announced a partnership with China UnionPay enabling the use of PayPal with UnionPay member cards.

In 2015, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) placed a 100,000 yuan annual cap on overseas UnionPay (Issued by China's bank) cash withdrawals.[14]

In November 2017, Azoya teamed up with UnionPay to enable consumers in China to profit from the Black Friday online shopping festival via a cross-border marketing platform.[15]

Members

UnionPay is the primary network of these Chinese banks:

Other UnionPay-affiliated organizations include municipal commercial banks as well as rural credit cooperatives. Overall, there are 165 financial institutions that issue UnionPay cards.

UnionPay had partnered with JETCO in Hong Kong and Macau until January 1, 2006. As of January 2013, Bank of East Asia and Citibank were the only banks allowed to independently issue UnionPay credit cards in Hong Kong and the mainland. HSBC and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank independently issue UnionPay credit cards in Hong Kong, while they issue cards in the mainland in cooperation with local banks as noted above. Deutsche Bank only has co-issued cards, with no independently issued UnionPay credit cards.

The following ten foreign banks have the right to issue UnionPay debit cards in China:

UnionPay in other countries:

  • AGD Bank offers a UnionPay debit card in Myanmar
  • Baiduri Bank offers a UnionPay debit card in Brunei
  • Bangkok Bank offers a UnionPay credit card in Thailand
  • Banque Pour Le Commeree Exterieur Lao (BCEL) offers a UnionPay debit card in Laos
  • Bank Sinarmas offers a UnionPay debit card in Indonesia
  • BDO Unibank offers a UnionPay credit card in the Philippines
  • DBS Bank offers a UnionPay debit card in Singapore.[16]
  • Halyk Bank offers both UnionPay credit and debit cards in Kazakhstan
  • Gazprombank offers both UnionPay credit & debit cards in Russia.
  • Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) offers both UnionPay credit and debit cards in Vietnam
  • Kasikornbank offers a UnionPay credit card in Thailand
  • Kazkommertsbank offers UnionPay credit cards in Kazakhstan
  • Krung Thai Bank offers a UnionPay debit card in Thailand
  • Lotte Card offers a UnionPay credit card in the Republic of Korea.
  • Mitsubishi UFJ NICOS offers a UnionPay credit card in Japan.
  • Muganbank offers a UnionPay credit card in Azerbaijan.
  • SCT Networks offers a UnionPay Debit card in Nepal.
  • Public Bank offers a UnionPay Debit card in Malaysia.
  • Philippine National Bank(PNB) offers a UnionPay credit card in Philippines.
  • Sacombank offers both UnionPay credit and debit cards in Vietnam
  • Mitsui Sumitomo Bank offers a UnionPay credit card in Japan.
  • Shinhan Bank offers a UnionPay credit card in the Republic of Korea.
  • United Overseas Bank offers a UnionPay credit card in Singapore.
  • Vostochny Express Bank offers both UnionPay credit & debit cards in Russia.
  • Bank Alfalah and Faysal Bank offer UnionPay debit cards in Pakistan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Introduction - UnionPay International". www.unionpayintl.com. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  2. ↑ "UnionPay takes top spot from Visa in $22 trillion global cards market - RBR". Finextra Research. 22 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Inc., Moxian,. "Moxian, Inc. Signs Cooperation Agreement with China UnionPay Subsidiary -- Beijing Chinaums". www.prnewswire.com.
  4. ↑ "UnionPay offers secure and convenient payment service for Chinese students studying abroad". www.unionpayintl.com.
  5. ↑ Dai Xianglong (2002-03-26). "Remarks by Mr. Dai Xianglong, Governor of the PBC at the Opening Ceremony of China Unionpay". People's Bank of China. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  6. ↑ Pomfret, James (11 March 2014). "Special Report: How China's official bank card is used to smuggle money". www.reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "EMVCo Members". EMVCo. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  8. ↑ "Apple & China UnionPay to Bring Apple Pay to China". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Purchase Transactions Worldwide". nilsonreport.com. 2015-03-01. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  10. ↑ "China UnionPay extends coverage globally". Xinhua news agency. 2006-02-02. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  11. ↑ "China UnionPay accepted in U.S. on Discover/Pulse networks". People's Bank of China. 2005-12-06. Archived from the original on 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  12. ↑ "Big Database of Credit Offers: Cards Accepted in the United States". wistex. Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  13. ↑ "China's SAFE slaps 100,000 yuan annual cap on overseas UnionPay cash withdrawals". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  14. ↑ Zaczkiewicz, Arthur (2017-11-22). "Azoya Teams With UnionPay to Help International Retailers Leverage Black Friday Sales". WWD. Retrieved 2017-11-23.
  15. ↑ "DBS, UnionPay launch debit card to help visitors to China". The Straits Times. May 17, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
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