The Number of UnionPay Card Issuance Markets to Reach 77

The UnionPay Acceptance Network has extended to 181 Countries and Regions

LUSAKA, Zambia, Sept. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — UnionPay International (UPI) recently announced its partnership with National association of Savings and Credit Unions (NASCU), the apex organisation for all financial cooperatives in Zambia, to issue 700,000 UnionPay cards within three years. This marks the first time that UnionPay cards are rolled out in the country, extending UnionPay’s card issuing footsteps to 77 countries and regions globally.

The NASCU of Zambia will issue UnionPay chip cards to empower local citizens who were previously cash-dependent to have easy, secure, and convenient payment experiences for their daily lives and enable them to transact overseas.

Currently, nearly 190 million UnionPay cards have been issued outside the Chinese mainland.  In the Asia-Pacific region, one in every four new bank cards in the region is branded UnionPay. UnionPay accounts for over 90% of debit cards in circulation in Hong Kong and Macao SAR. In UAE, Kenya, the Philippines and other places, UnionPay card is also the payroll cards, student cards and citizen card of local residents. This year, more than 13 million UnionPay cards have been issued outside mainland China. The volume of transactions made with these cards has exceeded the level before the pandemic.

The acceleration of business localization is based on UPI’s effort in extending and enhancing its overseas acceptance network. In August, UnionPay International joined hand with Cardnet, the largest acquirer in the Dominican Republic, to enable UnionPay acceptance at all Cardnet merchants. This is the first time that UnionPay card services are made available in the country. The UnionPay acceptance network has thus extended to 181 countries and regions, covering more than 37 million merchants outside the Chinese mainland.

In the first half of this year, more than 1.7 million merchants outside the Chinese mainland enabled UnionPay acceptance, significantly improving the user experience in Europe, North America, and other places, and the number of online UnionPay merchants increased to 22 million. Mobile payment services have been developing rapidly, with 13 million merchants in 95 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland supporting UnionPay QR or mobile QuickPass. The latest survey by Juniper Research, a British consulting firm, shows that UPI has become one of the global leaders in QR payment.