UnionPay Issues over 7.59 Billion Cards Globally

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Chinese payments giant China UnionPay reports roaring growth in its international card operations.

On 22 April UnionPay released its “China Bank Card Industry Growth Report (2019)” (中国银行卡产业发展报告(2019)), which indicates that a total of more than 7.59 billion UnionPay cards have been issued around the globe, for an increase of around 900 million cards compared to the previous year.

UnionPay cards are accepted in 174 countries and regions, as compared to 168 in 2017, while the number of businesses that accept UnionPay cards has increased from around 50 million to over 53.7 million.

The number of ATM’s that process UnionPay cards increased from nearly 2.6 million in 2017 to 2.86 million in 2018.

The report said that China’s payments sector has bank cards at its foundation, and its continuing to maintain steady, innovation-driven growth.

The Chinese payments sector is expanding the application of fintech to payments innovations, while domestic payments technology development and Chinese payments products are achieving continuous breakthroughs when it comes to localised growth in overseas markets.