UnionPay strong presence in the US will help it target the estimated 3 million Chinese who traveled to the country in 2016, which was up 15% from 2015.
At popular destinations for Chinese tourists, such as outlet malls, and in the cities of New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the penetration rate for UnionPay cards among stores that accept credit cards is even higher at more than 90%.
UnionPay is a venture between many major Chinese banks, and operates a domestic electronic transfer settlement network similar to the global ones run by Visa and Mastercard.
Visa has recently applied to China’s central bank for a license to conduct a domestic bank-card clearing business, in a bid to tap the USD 110 trillion market monopolized by UnionPay.
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