SHANGHAI, Sept. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- UnionPay International announce on September 21 that about 270,000 POS terminals in Australia are supporting mobile QuickPass since it was launched in the market last June. This means that half of the brick-and-mortar stores accepting UnionPay support payment via QuickPass-enabled UnionPay chip cards and smartphones. Australia has now become the market with the largest number of mobile QuickPass-accepting terminal outside of mainland China.
In 2015, over one million Chinese tourists visited Australia, grown by 21% year-on-year. These tourists were mainly visiting for sightseeing and vacation. Since the end of this June, Australia has launched SmartGate for Chinese citizens (including Hong Kong and Macau residents) with electronic passport. It made tourists' entry faster and easier that may attract more Chinese tourists to Australia. According to the latest estimation of Tourism Research Australia, China will surpass New Zealand and become its largest source of overseas tourists next year.
It has been fairly convenient to use UnionPay in Australia for 90% of the ATMs and 65% of the POS terminals there accept UnionPay cards, covering department stores, hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. As the four major banks in Australia have all accepted UnionPay, UnionPay's acceptance coverage at local merchants will reach 80% within this year. Mobile QuickPass is a highlight of the UnionPay service in Australia. Since it is convenient and safe, its acceptance scope has expanded rapidly. It has been recognized by more and more merchants and cardholders, and has become an important means for merchants to enhance service capacity and to attract customers.
In Australia, merchants accepting mobile QuickPass include Myer, Captain Cook Cruise, Harvey Norman, MUJI, UNIQLO and Golden Century Seafood Restaurant in Sydney. No signature is required when paying via mobile QuickPass with UnionPay debit cards, and no PIN nor signature is required when paying less than 100 AUD via mobile QuickPass with UnionPay credit cards.
When spending over 300 AUD at the local merchants, tourists can claim for tax refund with UnionPay credit cards at 15 customs outlets when departure. Using the TRS mobile phone app and choose UnionPay credit cards for tax refund, customers can fill in the application form online and go through the express channel. The tax will be refunded directly into the account in RMB, which is very convenient and secure.
For more information, please visit www.unionpayintl.com.
