Credit cards of Russian banks using Visa and MasterCard systems will stop working abroad after March 9.
With the Russian Central Bank announcing that banks in the country are planning to issue cards using the UnionPay system, some are wondering about this system.
UnionPay is a Chinese financial services system launched with the approval of the People's Bank of China (Central Bank of China), on March 26, 2002, with the participation of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and the China Construction Bank, being the first members.
The concept of a unified Chinese bank card network dates back to 1993, with the formation of the "Golden Card Project" advocated by then Chinese President Jiang Zemin. UnionPay is its product, despite attempts to standardize various credit card and interbank networks in China since the 1990s.
Internationally abbreviated as CUP or UPI, UnionPay provides bank card services and the most important card system in mainland China, and has a system that connects banks in China through all ATMs from all banks across the country. It is also a method of electronic transfer of funds at points of sale.
In 2005, UnionPay entered into agreements with other payment networks to increase its acceptance worldwide. These include Discover, RuPay in India, JCB in Japan, and BC Card in South Korea.
UnionPay is the first financial-level pre-authorization service in China for secured transactions. The system allows payment for online shopping at any merchant that accepts UnionPay. In 2014, the total amount of UnionPay card transactions crossed 41.1 trillion yuan ($6.5 billion).
UnionPay cards can be used in many countries of the world. Some UnionPay credit cards are also linked to American Express, MasterCard, or Visa cards, and can be used abroad. However, UnionPay debit cards can only be used in the UnionPay network and other networks that have contracts with UnionPay.
Since 2006, China UnionPay cards can be used in more than 100 countries outside of China.
In May 2005, Payments Network Discover announced an alliance with China's UnionPay.
In March 2010, PayPal announced a partnership with UnionPay allowing the use of PayPal with UnionPay membership cards. In 2015, the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) set an annual cap of 100,000 yen on overseas cash withdrawals from UnionPay accounts issued by Chinese banks.
In November 2017, Azoya teamed up with UnionPay to enable consumers in China to take advantage of Friday's online shopping festival.
According to UnionPay's website, the system has been enabled to operate in 180 countries including Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Cyprus, Thailand, India, Israel, Portugal, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary and Austria.
When UnionPay is used as an alternative, Russia's Mir network, an electronic money transfer payment system sponsored by the Russian government, will partner with China's joint card issuance system.
According to Reuters, credit cards issued by Russian banks that use the Visa and MasterCard payment systems will also stop operating abroad after March 9.
The Chinese payment processor UnionPay is taking advantage of its position as a payment monopoly backed by a large Chinese population and the second largest economy in the world, helping it to grow into a serious competitor to Visa and MasterCard.
The Source
- alarabiya.net