China Unionpay(CUP), headquartered in Shanghai, is a bankcard association organization established in March 2002 under the approval of the People’s Bank of China(PBC).

The promotion of e-currency gives rise to China Unionpay

In 1993, the Golden Card Project was launched to fulfill the proposal by Jiang Zhemin, secretary general of Central Committee of CPC at the time, of popularizing the use of credit card nationwide. In March 2002, more than 80 financial organizations in China jointly initiated the establishment of China Unionpay (CUP) in order to strengthen the development of e-finance, popularize the use of e-currency and promote the interchangeability between all kinds of bankcards. Headquartered in Shanghai, CUP devotes its major business to the operation of cross-bank settlement network under the guidance of the PBC.

Since its establishment, CUP has built a cross-bank transaction system for operation with adopting advanced information technologies and operation mechanism, and formulated a unified system of business regulations and technology standards for the realization and development of high-efficient cross-bank interchangeability at the same time.

Insisting in keeping in line with the international practice and building a global network

Since its establishment, CUP has been consistently pursuing a “Going Global” Strategy.

Currently, CUP cards are accepted in many countries and regions in Pacific-Asian area, America, Europe, and Africa. More than 30 organizations in countries and regions like Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and Japan have issued the standard CUP card, and the issuance of standard CUP cards in Korea is under preparation.

CUP has become an international bankcard organization serving a growing number of countries and regions.  

The development of Korean market facilitates the exchange between the two countries

To enter the Korean market, CUP has been cooperating with Korea BC Card Company, the largest of its kind in the Korean bankcard industry since the end of 2004.

CUP cards have been accepted in Korea at merchants or on ATM since January 2005. However, this system principally served Chinese people at the time. In 2006, services like withdrawing RMB cash on international ATMs in China are available for Koreans who hold BC cards issued by membership banks of BC Card Company.

In 2007, CUP cooperated with BC Card Company to propel the cross-border remittance operation through CUP cards, which will realize the direct remittance from Korea to China’s CUP card account. At present, they are ready to issue CUP credit card in Korea. With the operation of the business, the CUP cards issued by 11 banks in Korea will be accepted not only in 740 thousand merchants, 1.18 million POS terminals and 120 thousand ATMs in China but also in other countries and regions where CUP card acceptance is available, just like the 1.5 billion or so CUP cards issued in China.

All-round Cooperation between CUP and BC Card, Korea

Mr. Wang, president of a Chinese enterprise, was deeply annoyed by money exchange in his frequent business shuttle between China and Korea for both of the two currencies are not internationally accepted and cannot be freely exchanged in the two countries. Although he could change money in banks or shops in Korea, he still felt inconvenient because 24-hour service is not available there.

However, his annoyance was settled for good since January 2005 when CUP cooperated with BC Card Company, Korea, to realize the acceptance of CUP cards in Korean merchants or on ATMs. He could use CUP cards handled in China withdrawing won on Korean ATMs or, directly stamp card in Korean merchants.

In fact, the cooperation started from the end of 2004 and, in January 2005, the acceptance of CUP cards in Korea was launched after a series of first-phase preparations. Currently, the number of ATMs accepting CUP cards exceeds over 11,000 and that of merchants over 10 thousand.

April of 2006 witnessed the launch of operation that BC card holders can withdraw cash on international ATMs in China by the two parties. However, these operations were mainly carried out in scenic spots. In 2007, the cross-border remittance through credit card was achieved between the two countries.

CUP and BC Card will carry out more convenient financial services along with the increasingly close ties of economy and trade between China and Korea. Standard CUP BC cards will be issued so that a won account opened in Korea can be used in China and other 26 countries and regions where CUP cards are accepted.

As for the cooperation, Mr. Wang thought it an all-win activity to create profits for financial services companies and to facilitate the common people’ s lives. He hoped that the two companies will make persistent efforts to provide people more and better financial services with intensified cooperation.

----published on the comprehensive news page of Asia Daily,  Feb. 4^th, 2008