UnionPay Card is Accepted by the Largest Commercial Bank in Ukraine
UnionPay reaches 60% acceptance rate in Ukraine
2020-03-23

Over the past 3 months, UnionPay card acceptance rate in Ukraine has grown from zero to sixty percent, making it much easier for UnionPay cardholders to make payments or withdraw cash in the country. This is resulted from the partnership between UnionPay International and PrivatBank, the largest commercial bank in Ukraine, which now enables all the merchants and ATM terminals in its network to accept UnionPay.

With the second largest terrotory in Europe, Ukraine plays the role of an important bridge between Eastern and Western Europe. It is also a travel destination gaining popularity among travelers worldwide. In order to enhance the service capabilities of UnionPay’s global network, UnionPay International is expanding its network in Ukraine in cooperation with the National Bank of Ukraine. In 2018, the National Bank of Ukraine granted a Payment Business License to UnionPay International, and encouraged local financial institutions to accept and issue UnionPay cards.

With the partnership between PrivatBank and UnionPay International, UnionPay’s acceptance network in the country is expanded substantially, which meets the cross-border payment demands of UnionPay cardholders visiting from China, Belarus, Khazakstan, South Korea and many other major tourist source countries of Ukraine. So far, UnionPay card is accepted at about 200,000 merchants and 7,000 ATM terminas in Ukraine, and there are over 150,000 POS terminals supporting UnionPay’s contactless payment solution, QuickPass. These POS terminals are easily found in major cities such as Kyiv and Dnipro. In addition, many local online merchants are also about to accept UnionPay cards. With the current collabroation in card acceptance, the two sides will carry out collaboration in card issuance this year so as to offer payment service to local customers.

In recent years, UnionPay International has been making continuous efforts to accelerate the expansion of its acceptance network worldwide. To date, UnionPay card acceptance footprint has expanded to 178 countries and regions, covering 90% of the European countries and regions with an overall acceptance rate of over 65%. In Central and Eastern Europe, UnionPay is present in 14 countries and regions, and UnionPay card is accepted at more than half of the merchants in Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Baltic Sea; and UnionPay will reach 100% acceptance in Serbia in 2020. In 2019, the first UnionPay card was also issued in Portugal, marking the first of its kind issued by local European financial institutions.

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