UnionPay International announced today a partnership with the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) to issue 50,000 UnionPay Travel Mate Asia cards in Madagascar within one year. This is the first UnionPay card to be issued in Madagascar, and it is also the first Travel Mate Asia card to be issued in Africa. The issuance of this card further enriches the existing portfolio of UnionPay card products in Africa. Ge Huayong, Chairman of China UnionPay, and Kee Chong Li, Chairman of SBM, attended the card launching ceremony. 

With the implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, the personnel exchange between China and Africa is increasingly frequent. Africa has also become one of the fastest growing destinations for China's outbound travel market. Visitors to Africa are growing at a rate of 50% per year. In this context, UnionPay International has accelerated the local UnionPay card acceptance and card issuance business development, and has two-way services for China-Africa trade and personnel exchanges. At present, 50 countries and regions in Africa have accepted UnionPay cards, and the overall acceptance rate has reached more than 75%. Multiple UnionPay cards have been issued in countries such as Mauritius, Kenya, Seychelles and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SBM has already enabled all its merchants and ATMs to accept UnionPay cards, and has issued UnionPay cards in Mauritius. With this partnership, UnionPay International and SBM jointly launch the UnionPay Travel Mate Asia Card in Madagascar, mainly targeting at the local customers whom often travel between China and Africa. Cardholders can use this card in the UnionPay acceptance network across 170 countries and regions worldwide, while enjoying unique card-using benefits in 20 major tourist destinations in Asia. Next, the two sides also plan to launch Asia Prestige credit cards for high net worth customers and credit card products for small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa.

Ge Huayong said that in the context of the in-depth implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, UnionPay is carrying out extensive collaboration with institutions in Africa to support China-Africa trade and personnel exchanges. The issuance of the UnionPay Travel Mate Asia Card in Madagascar on the one hand will offer new cross-border payment option to the local customers, especially those who travel to Asia; on the other hand, it will enhance UnionPay’s service capability for particular customer groups, accelerate the localization of UnionPay in Africa. In the future, UnionPay is willing to leverage on its advantages in network, products and technology to participate in the development of the payments industry in Africa, and to further promote the interconnection of China-Africa payment networks.

Kee Chong Li said that UnionPay is a world-renowned international payment brand and its acceptance network is constantly expanding. In particular, UnionPay is extensively accepted across Asia. SBM has started collaborating with UnionPay since 2014, and both parties have built a solid foundation for cooperation. The issuance of this new card will provide more payment ease for the Madagascar customers visiting Asia. Moreover, China has the world’s leading mobile payment technology, and SBM is willing to deeper collaboration with UnionPay in innovative payment, so as to offer more payment options to the African people.

Recently, UnionPay International has also made breakthroughs in Angola and Uganda. UnionPay International cooperated with Angola’s national switch network EMIS to enable all the local ATMs to accept UnionPay cards. The two parties will also jointly promote all the local merchants to accept UnionPay cards. In Uganda, UnionPay International, in cooperation with the National Bank of Uganda, plans to issue 400,000 UnionPay debit cards in the next three years. Meanwhile, Uganda Oriental Bank has recently opened all its ATMs and POS terminals to accept UnionPay cards.