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 Your Location | English Site  What's New Eyes on CUP |
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| Transaction volume in Japanese market soars up |
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"Now, when people consume at the CUP’s engaged merchants or withdraw cash on ATMs in Japan, direct exchange from Yen to RMB can be achieved without currency conversion charge. The rate of exchange adopts the uniform selling rate of Yen to RMB in domestic bank at that day, which can avoid the risk of exchange rate fluctuation,” told by Wei Xiaoyin, business representative of CUP in Japan.
Changes brought by CUP cards can be felt not only by Chinese people but also the Japanese. Wei told the reporter that when talking with Japanese cooperators and merchants, it’s obvious to feel that they are surprised at the realization of overseas payment of CUP cards. Sometimes they may say, “It’s amazing that we can purchase goods directly in Japan with CUP cards” since it’s just 3 or 4 years ago that RMB can be directly exchanged in Japan. However, at that time, although RMB can be exchanged at international airports or exchange spots in cities, the rate of exchange was 20% higher than the selling rate executed by CUP. Now it’s different. The acceptance of CUP cards in overseas markets like Japan helps to realize that the Chinese people can purchase goods with RMB directly at Japan’s merchants, which fully reflects the growth of China’s economic strength and the change of Chinese people’s payment habits.
Wei listed several examples for the reporter on the development of CUP’s business in Japan. He said that before the acceptance of CUP cards in Japan, many Chinese visitors had to bring cash, yen or US dollar, to Japan. It’s often seen that at Akihabara, famous for its electronic appliance shops, many Chinese visitors brought US dollars out from bags, even several thousand sometimes, which on the one hand is insecure, and uneconomic on the other hand since 1%-1.5% commission fees will be charged for US dollar is still a foreign currency in Japan,
Since CUP developed its business in Japanese market, the payment in Japan by Chinese visitors became more and more convenient. Some visitors may find the balance is in short when using cards for payment, and then they would call their relatives in China to deposit money into the account for the completion of the payment. It is the technological advance that makes the personnel exchange between China and Japan freer and more convenient.
In December 2005, CUP opened its POS consumption in Japan, and cash withdrawal at ATM in April 2006. By the end of April, 2008, the number of the engaged merchants that accept CUP cards in Japan reached over 10000, and that of ATMs over 46000, which takes up almost 1/3 of the total number of ATMs in Japan. Besides, CUP logo and Chinese operating menu ate pasted and installed on those ATMs. In December, 2007, CUP cooperated with Sumitomo Mitsui Cards Company to issue the standard CUP credit card, providing the payment and consumption convenience for Japanese and overseas Chinese when visiting China.
Currently, the transaction volume of Japanese market soars up. For example, from January to the end of March in 2008, the CUP transaction volume in Japan is 4.9 times that of the same period in the past year. Wei also told the reporter that the Japanese department store associations have strengthened the cooperation with CUP to ameliorate the CUP card acceptance conditions and Chinese shopping guide services for Chinese visitors, which has helped increase the sales volume of department stores rapidly and changed the situation of dependence on airport duty-free stores and electronic appliance chain stores in Japan’s engaged merchants market.
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