UnionPay cross-border transactions reach USD 43 bIn during May 2015 holidays

Cross-border UnionPay card transactions witnessed a significant growth in the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, letstalkpayments.com reports. UnionPay China is responsible for all bank card transactions on the Chinese mainland and has extended its reach to 150 countries and regions.

Previously, during the Spring festival between Feb 18th and Feb 24th, 2015, UnionPay overseas transactions rose to nearly 50% as a yearly trend. The total volume of transactions using UnionPay cards at home and abroad was USD 38.7 billion. Compared to 2014, card payments in transportation increased by about 95% year on year, while transactions in shopping and travel grew about 50% and 88%, respectively.

During the spring holidays, cross-border UnionPay card transactions saw a notable growth in the Republic of Korea, the US and other UnionPay-friendly markets. The local currency depreciation during the time influenced a large number of Chinese tourists to visit Japan, Russia and European countries.

With the UnionPay cross-border service, cardholders can withdraw cash and make purchases by swiping cards at nearly one million ATMs and more than 7 million merchants (POS) abroad. Cardholders can also shop directly at 8 million overseas online merchants through the internet. Currently UnionPay can be used in 125 overseas countries and regions with a network for ATM and debit card acceptance. When visiting these places for travel, business or study, cardholders can use UnionPay to withdraw cash in the local currency and swipe for payments.

UnionPay has also introduced a cross-border service for online payment that helps cardholders to shop directly across the border at nearly 8 million online merchants in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and most countries and regions in Europe.