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French Polynesia will issue its first UnionPay card
2016-09-28



Cai Jianbo (right), CEO of UnionPay International, and James Estall (left), CEO of Socredo Bank attended the signing ceremony.

UnionPay International announced today that it would cooperate with Socredo Bank, the largest commercial bank in French Polynesia (also known as Tahiti) in issuing the first local UnionPay card (card number starting with 62) next year, and comprehensively upgrading the cross-border use and online payment of Socredo-issued bankcards. Cai Jianbo, CEO of UnionPay International, and James Estall, CEO of Socredo Bank attended the signing ceremony.

French Polynesia is a group of South Pacific islands. Over half of the local residents are clients of Socredo Bank. The Bank has enabled all its ATMs and merchants to accept UnionPay cards. Through this cooperation with UnionPay International, Socredo Bank will replace the existing Socredo bankcards into UnionPay cards, and will issue new UnionPay cards on a large scale.

The self-brand bankcards issued by Socredo Bank are only accepted at the local ATMs and POS terminals. This cooperation will upgrade its products in two aspects: First, the Bank’s cards will be international payment cards which can be used in the UnionPay network across 160 countries and regions. Second, the cards are available for online payment, which satisfies the local residents’ diverse payment needs.

Cai Jianbo said, Socredo Bank has remarkable market advantages in French Polynesia. Our all-around cooperation will not only improve UnionPay’s acceptance footprint there, but also provide new payment options for the local residents. This cooperation takes advantage of UnionPay’s global network, adds new value to Socredo’s network, and will facilitate the local cardholders’ card use in a wider scale. In the future, the two sides will explore cooperation in innovative payment so as to further improve UnionPay’s products and service.

James Estall said, we are very glad to cooperate with UnionPay International. We choose to replace our cards into UnionPay cards because UnionPay’s global network is expanding rapidly and that we hope to take advantage of UnionPay products to upgrade the e-payment industry in Polynesia. We’d like to enhance our cooperation with UnionPay International, to promote the issuance and use of UnionPay cards, and to offer a brand new payment option for our old and new customers.

Now, it is increasingly convenient to use UnionPay cards in the South Pacific region. For instance, 50% of ATMs and 30% POS terminals in Tahiti accept UnionPay cards. In Australia, 90% of ATMs and 65% of POS terminals accept UnionPay, and 80% of the local merchants will accept UnionPay within this year. In New Zealand, UnionPay cards can be used at over 10,000 merchants and 40% of ATMs. In addition, nine island countries in the South Pacific, namely Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Kiribati and East Timor, have accepted UnionPay.

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