On Nov. 22, President of China UnionPay, Shi Wenchao, met with Board Member of Montenegro Central Bank, Andrija Jovovi, in Montenegro. He also met with senior managements of the local major institutions, including CEO of CKB and CEO of Atlas Bank, and had reached initial cooperation agreement. UnionPay cards will be accepted for the first time at the local ATMs and merchants.

“UnionPay is actively participating in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Now, having signed cooperation agreements with 343 institutions in the markets along the Belt and Road, UnionPay has realized acceptance in more than 50 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and has reached or will reach full acceptance in some markets.” said Shi Wenchao. Montenegro is an active participator in the implementation of the Initiative and UnionPay looks forward to collaborating with the local major institutions in card acceptance, to realize smooth payment between China and Montenegro. UnionPay has rich experience in payment innovation, the building of smart city as well as financial inclusion, and is willing to support the development of the payment industry in the relevant markets.

Andrija Jovovi said, the Central Bank is supportive for the business cooperation between UnionPay and financial institutions in Montenegro. Since this year, the non-cash payment in Montenegro has grown by 17% year-on-year. It is expected that non-cash payment will increase further after the acceptance of UnionPay cards in Montenegro.

According to the data from China National Tourism Administration, the number of Chinese people travelling to Central and Eastern Europe countries such as Montenegro and Serbia is growing rapidly. UnionPay International will carry out cooperation with CKB and Atlas Bank, to realize UnionPay acceptance at the local ATMs and merchants within next year, expand acceptance scope, carry out joint marketing campaigns, and deepen collaboration in innovative payments such as online payment.

At present, UnionPay is accepted in more than 160 countries and regions, covering almost all the destinations often visited by the Chinese. Based on this, UnionPay International is further expanding its global acceptance network, enhancing its service capability to UnionPay cardholders. UnionPay cards are already accepted in the majority of the 16 Central and Eastern European countries. In Hungary, over 50% of POS terminals and about half of ATMs accept UnionPay cards. In the Czech Republic, UnionPay is accepted at about half of ATMs and over 10,000 merchants.