UnionPay International announced today that it has cooperated with SocGen Mozambique to enable all the POS terminals of the Bank in Mozambique to accept UnionPay cards. It is the first time that UnionPay is accepted in Mozambique, expanding UnionPay acceptance network to 50 countries and regions in Africa. In the meantime, UnionPay International also deepens its cooperation with The Standard Bank in South Africa to jointly expanding UnionPay’s acceptance coverage in 10 Pan-African countries where UnionPay is already present.

Over the past few years, the exchange between China and Africa has become increasingly closer. On the one hand, the number of Chinese enterprises in Africa has exceeded 10,000. On the other hand, Africa is one of China’s fastest-growing outbound travel destinations with the number of Chinese tourists visiting Africa growing by 50% each year. To better facilitate the trade cooperation and personnel exchanges between China and Africa, UnionPay International is carrying out business cooperation not only with the local institutions but also global banks.

SocGen is one of the most influential international banks in Africa, conducting business across 17 African countries. Previously, UnionPay International has cooperated with SocGen to enable the merchants in 8 African countries, including Madagascar, Cameroon and Senegal, to accept UnionPay. Now, the two sides expand the scope of cooperation to Mozambique, to enable a number of the local department stores, restaurants and hotels to accept UnionPay cards, including UnionPay chip cards, to meet the diverse demands of cardholders visiting the country.

In addition, UnionPay International deepens its cooperation with The Standard Bank of South Africa, to enable at least 2,000 more merchants in 10 African countries, including Ghana and Kenya, to accept UnionPay cards within this year.

UnionPay’s acceptance network in Africa is improving constantly. In South Africa, the UnionPay card acceptance coverage is about 90%. In Kenya, UnionPay is accepted at 90% of POS terminals and over 85% of ATMs. In addition, multiple UnionPay card products, including premium cards, are issued in Mauritius, Kenya, Seychelles and Congo, offering secure and convenient payment services to the local customers in Africa.