SINGAPORE, June 1 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- In a landmark deal covering multiple Asian markets, Merchant Solutions and Chinese bankcard association China UnionPay (CUP) have announced an alliance that enables thousands of merchants outside China to accept CUP debit and credit cards.
Merchant Solutions, the joint venture between global electronic payments processor First Data and Standard Chartered, equips businesses with point-of-sale (POS) terminals and other products and services to accept card payments. CUP, China's bankcard association, its member banks currently have issued more than 1.8 billion cards, many of which are now used by the growing number of Chinese people travelling throughout Asia and beyond.
Merchant Solutions already enables merchants in Hong Kong and Macau to accept CUP cards and the new agreement extends these services to Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
Merchant Solutions CEO and Managing Director Sean Hesh said, "The deal offers real advantages to merchants using Merchant Solutions' network. Chinese outbound travel is on the rise and this is having a tremendous impact on our markets around Asia. Merchants are keen to benefit from growing transaction volumes and Merchant Solutions enables them to do so."
"Cooperation with Merchant Solutions gives Chinese travellers in Asia-Pacific the freedom to access their travel funds when they want, where they want," said CUP First Executive Vice President Jianbo Cai. "It further expands CUP's card acceptance network abroad, as well as our other services to CUP cardholders."
Research from China's National Tourism Administration and the National Bureau of Statistics shows an increase in Chinese travelling and spending abroad. In fact, they found that more than 40 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2007, rising by 15 percent in 2008, to 46 million, and they estimate the number will top 50 million in 2009. They also discovered an overwhelming majority of outbound Chinese travel within Asia (36.3 million in 2007).
Chinese visitors to Singapore and Malaysia doubled between 2006 and 2008, and trips to India are increasing rapidly. Besides spending on hospitality and souvenirs, Chinese travellers are attracted to branded clothing, cosmetics, regional delicacies, digital products and other luxury items less readily available in China. Now they will be able to purchase these more widely, using CUP cards.
About China UnionPay: visit http://www.chinaunionpay.com
About Merchant Solutions Pte Ltd: visit http://www.merchant-solutions.biz . (About parent companies: http://www.firstdata.com and http://www.standardchartered.com )
Contact:
Sandra Pang
Pronto Communications
+852-2540-6872
prontopr@pacific.net.hk
