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UnionPay International and Banque Socredo jointly issue the first UnionPay card in Tahiti
2017-11-17


UnionPay International announced today that it has cooperated with Banque Socredo in issuing UnionPay debit card in French Polynesia (commonly known as Tahiti). This is the first UnionPay card issued in the South Pacific Islands. Chairman of China UnionPay Ge Huayong and CEO of Banque Socredo Matahi Brothers attended the card issuing ceremony held in Papeete. President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch, and Vice President, Teva Rohfritsch were present to extend their congratulations.

Tahiti is called “The Place Closest to Heaven”, and is a popular resort among tourists all over the world. Now, about half of the local ATMs accept UnionPay cards for cash withdrawal and about 70% of the local POS terminals accepting international payment cards accept UnionPay cards. Popular hotels and restaurants, famous black pearl brand store Robert Wan, renowned diving center Top Dive and AVIS and Hertz Car Rental all accept UnionPay. All the ATMs and merchant locations of Banque Socredo accept UnionPay cards.

Previosuly, all of the self-branded cards issued by Banque Socredo can only be used locally. Now, UnionPay International and Banque Socredo have agreed to replace all of these cards with UnionPay chip cards in 2 to 3 year. These cards are all international payment cards that can be used in the UnionPay acceptance network across more than 160 countries and regions. And these cards are QuickPass cards with NFC payment function, and will support online payment in the second quarter of next year.

Ge Huayong expressed his sincere gratitude to the long-term support of Banque Socredo for UnionPay card business. He said, UnionPay is not only offering payment convenience to Chinese outbound tourists, but is also accelerating local card issuing through cooperation with major institutions outside China, so as to offer payment convenient to more global customers. The issuance of this UnionPay card in Tahiti offers new payment options to the local residents, meeting their diverse payment demands. In the future, we will promote UnionPay innovative payment products and services together with major institutions, supporting the upgrade of payment industry.

According to Matahi Brothers, Banque Socredo and UnionPay have established a solid cooperation relationship. The two’s joint effort in expanding UnionPay card acceptance in Tahiti has brought more Chinese tourists to the islands, and helped promote the development of local tourism. These years, more and more people in Tahiti are traveling abroad, and China is one of their favorite tourist destinations. I believe UnionPay will bring them brand new travel payment experiences.
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