On May 12, UnionPay International announced its cooperation with Sberbank, the largest commercial bank in Russia, in card acceptance. The two parties will: first, enable all Sberbank ATMs to accept UnionPay cards by the end of June this year; second, enable all the merchants subordinate to the Bank to accept UnionPay in the next three years. As expected, UnionPay’s acceptance coverage at ATMs and merchants in Russia will increase to 80% from the present 30% and 50% respectively by the end of this year, substantially improving the local UnionPay acceptance network.

Russia is the largest market along the Belt and Road, and the Initiative has facilitated the cooperation between UnionPay International and large financial institutions in Russia in card acceptance and issuance. These cooperation projects are progressing smoothly, offering stronger support for the bilateral communication between the two countries. At present, UnionPay cards are accepted at about 340,000 POS terminals and 41,000 ATMs in Russia, and UnionPay’s innovative business is making breakthroughs too. UnionPay Online Payment is available on the official website of Russia’s major airlines, such as Aeroflot-Russian Airlines and Siberia Airlines. The local merchants have begun accepting UnionPay mobile QuickPass since the beginning of this year. It is expected that 50,000 POS terminals in Russia will support mobile QuickPass by year end.

The cooperation between UnionPay International and Sberbank will substantially improve customers’ payment experience in Russia. This year, in particular, Sberbank will first enable the merchants in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok that are most popular among tourists to accept UnionPay, covering ten thousands of department stores, brand stores, hotels, restaurants and supermarkets.

The cooperation is of great significance: Firstly, it marks a breakthrough in UnionPay’s acceptance network in Russia, providing payment convenience for visitors and encouraging more local residents to apply for and use UnionPay cards. Secondly, the comprehensive launch of UnionPay business by the largest bank may promote more local banks to follow suit. Thirdly, the cooperation not only meets the payment demand brought by Sino-Russia personnel exchanges, but also offers better payment service to customers along the Belt and Road.

UnionPay’s card issuance in Russia has also made progress. Now, 9 major institutions have issued more than 800,000 UnionPay cards, which are frequently used in about 60 countries and regions including Russia and China. Last September, UnionPay International and NSPK inked an agreement in Shanghai to initiate card issuance cooperation and to jointly promote the issuance of UnionPay-MIR debit cards. It is said that Rosselkhozbank will issue the UnionPay-MIR card in the first half of this year.