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Travel overseas with UnionPay cards during May Day holiday and enjoy privileges
2015-04-24


Remember to take along your UnionPay cards (card number starting with 62) if you have plans to make overseas travels during the upcoming May Day holiday to enjoy payment security and convenience on your journey.

Currently, UnionPay cards are accepted by over 14 million merchants and nearly 1.2 million ATMs across 150 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland and cardholders are able to enjoy the exemption of currency conversion fees equivalent to 1-2% of the transaction value. UnionPay IC cards have also realized almost full acceptance on the global UnionPay network. Besides, the UnionPay card acceptance environment has been substantially optimized in popular new tourist destinations including the US, Europe, Australia and Russia.

Where to go for the 72-hour holiday?

Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and many other Southeast Asia countries have always been hot destinations for Chinese people’s short-term outbound travels. Japan, Russia and Europe are becoming more popular among Chinese tourists fueled by the recent exchange rate fluctuations. While countries like Turkey and Greece are the new favorites for art-loving youths.

The special privileges rolled out in March by UnionPay International that cover 80 global airport duty free shops are still on-going, with cardholders being able to enjoy at least 5% of discounts and considerate services in 80 shops in 70 airports. In the upcoming May Day holiday, UnionPay International will further launch an event featuring “72 hours around Asia”, with more than 100 merchants in major Asian countries providing discounts up to 15%. The privileges cover duty-free shops, shopping malls, department stores and other places popular among tourists. In addition, the event also highlights a range of services such as hotel reservation, local taxi hiring, leisure and entertainment for those want to enjoy in-depth travels or child- parents family time.

In Asia, UnionPay cards are widely accepted by ATMs and merchants and UnionPay International is also committed to providing cardholders with more considerate and value-added services. In South Korea, UnionPay cardholders can enjoy coffee in the UnionPay coffee lounges at Incheon International Airport, or take a free ride with the ‘At Seoul’ Circulating Bus; at Singapore Changi Airport, UnionPay cardholders can also enjoy a 5% discount for renting Singtel telephone card and Wifi router.

If you have plans to travel to Taiwan, on-line ticking booking service for high-speed rails has enabled UnionPay card acceptance and free business class upgrading are also provided for now. Also, when taking the China Airline flights, cardholders can also enjoy inflight shopping experience with exclusive UnionPay card offers. While in Taiwan, cardholders can enjoy up to 30% off discount for AVIS car-renting service and 40% off for airport shuttle service and chartered bus service. In countries and regions including South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Macau, payment with UnionPay cards is also accepted in taxies, buses and high-speed rails.

Asia is also a region sees extensive UnionPay card service innovations that provide young cardholders with more wonderful card-using experience. In Hong Kong and Macau, nearly 3,000 Quickpass terminals are distributed in places like supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, public transportation and parking lots. In South Korea, Quickpass service are available in Doota Mall and all GS convenience stores. In Taiwan, Quickpass service is being launched in a number of malls, fashion stores, chain bookstores and other merchants. Cardholders can also make UnionPay card payment via mPOS terminals in local specialty snack shops, night markets and take-out restaurants.

Enriched Privileges and Services

Currently, cardholders can make purchases and get the tax refund in more than 300,000 merchants across the world with tax refund labels. The refund will be automatically remitted to cardholder’s UnionPay card account within a short period of time. Especially, UnionPay cardholders can also enjoy swift tax refund service for free at about 500 KTIS tax refund merchants in South Korea. The 24-hour self-service tax refund terminals placed by KTIS at airports in Inchon, Gimpo and Cheju provide tax refund in cash.

With your UnionPay Premium card at hand can also make your visa application easier. Holders of UnionPay platinum or diamond credit cards can apply for a visa in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for visiting New Zealand by only providing the front side copy of the card and recent three-month bank statements, instead of bank deposit certificate, wage certificate and certificate of incumbency, significantly simplifying the visa application procedures. In the meantime, UnionPay diamond cardholders can also enjoy free expedited service when applying for a visa for visiting Britain, which may shorten the visa application time to 3-5 working days.

UnionPay card emergency cash assistance service has been extended to over 400,000 service outlets in over 220 countries and regions. UnionPay cardholders may call the local UnionPay service hotline or domestic card issuing bank’s hotline to apply for emergency cash assistance of up to USD 5,000 when they are experiencing emergencies like card lost or stolen.

Security Tips

While enjoying the convenient services brought by UnionPay cards, cardholders must also enhance their security awareness to avoid unnecessary lost. When using your card or withdrawing cash from ATMs, please take proper care of your personal information. In addition to the PIN, your credit card number, expiry date, CVN2 (the last three digits) and ID number are all important personal information. At the same time, please keep highly alert at any calls or short messages that request a bank transfer or PIN code and such notices as “Maintenance” and “Out of Service” on ATMs. When necessary, you can call the issuer’s overseas service hotline for assistance.

For more details about the card-using information, and more details about the promotion activities mentioned above, please visit the official website of UnionPay International (
), call the 24-hour UnionPay service hotline (95516), follow “UnionPay International” on Sina Weibo or WeChat, or download its official mobile application by searching “UnionPay International” in Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store. You can also contact your bank for information on products and services.
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