Mr. Xu Luode, President of China Unionpay, accepted an exclusive interview from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the biggest economic newspaper in Japan on November 20. Mr. Xu talked about the remarkable progress of CUP cards business in Japan, the important role played by CUP cards in promoting Sino-Japanese economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people contacts, and achievements scored in CUP internationalization and its roadmap for future development.
Mr. Xu pointed out that, to meet the payment needs in Sino-Japanese economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people contacts, CUP, had been actively expanding the network of CUP cards acceptance in Japan since 2005, which is dedicated to a convenient bankcard payment environment between the two countries. Presently, CUP business in Japan is characterized by five trends and features: firstly, CUP business in Japan has been increasingly diversified, from merchant POS acceptance, ATM acceptance, all the way to the official issuance of CUP standard cards in Japan; secondly, CUP has been expanding its operation in Japan, with existing acceptance service in such cities as Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka as well as more districts to be covered; thirdly, categories of CUP cards accepting merchants has been constantly diversified, i.e. more merchants including appliance stores, shopping malls and franchise stores have accepted CUP cards apart from duty-free shops, body shops and hotels that are traditional favorites of Chinese tourists; fourthly, CUP has more and more partners in Japan; fifthly, the transaction volume soared up in Japan, creating consecutive records of 100 million yen for a single-day transaction.
Mr. Xu emphasized that, in response to the requirements of China’s social and economic development meet increasing payment needs of Chinese in overseas business trips, tourism and study, and to realize the goal of “where there is Chinese people, there is CUP cards service”, CUP, after the expansion of CUP network in 50 countries and regions, would committed to accelerate its internationalization process, and shape CUP brand as an independent bankcard brand with international influence and competitiveness.
It is said that the rapid progress of CUP business in Japan has attracted wide attention and Japan media has given it much more coverage. According to incomplete statistics, 10 mainstream Japanese media, including NHK, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Fuji Sankei Business, Nishinihon Shimbun, and Chubun, have give priority coverage to CUP business in Japan. Among these media, Nihon Keizai Shimbun has published nearly 80 reports on CUP.
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