UnionPay International, a subsidiary of the state-backed UnionPay card brand, claims that the transaction volume of overseas-issued UnionPay cards accounted for about half of UnionPay’s total international business as at the end of the first quarter of this year, compared to 27 per cent as at the end of 2013. In particular, the transaction number of overseas-issued UnionPay cards in Mainland China jumped 30 per cent year-on-year. Nevertheless, the card issuer does not indicate related figures in its latest press release. It said over 55 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 40 overseas countries and regions, of which Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea are major regions for UnionPay card-issuance outside the Mainland.
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