Chairman of China UnionPay Ge Huayong (left) and CEO of Yapı Kredi Gokhan Erun attended the signing ceremony

UnionPay International announced today that it has signed an agreement with Turkey's Yapı Kredi to allow its online and offline merchants and ATMs to accept UnionPay cards during the year, according to which acceptance rate of UnionPay cards of POSs and ATMs of merchants in Turkey will increase to 90% and 85% respectively. Chairman of China UnionPay Ge Huayong and CEO of Yapı Kredi Gokhan Erun attended the signing ceremony in the presence of Huang Songfeng, commercial consul of the Chinese Consulate General in Istanbul.

The year of 2018 is the “China-Turkey Tourism Year” during which the travels to Turkey from China are expected to reach 400,000. At present, acceptance rate of UnionPay cards in Turkey has exceeded 75%; and UnionPay provides satisfactory acceptance experience in tourist cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Nevsehir, basically covering the merchants that visitors often visit. At the same time, Turkish e-visa network and a number of local airlines and travel booking websites have accepted online payment service of UnionPay to facilitate Chinese tourists to pay Turkish e-visa fees online and plan their trips in advance.

Huang Songfeng said that the governments of both China and Turkey attach great importance to bilateral relations and financial cooperation between the two countries will help the two sides achieve vigorous development in all areas of pragmatic exchanges. It is believed that the cooperation between UnionPay and Yapı Kredi will further provide convenience for Chinese citizens who come to Turkey for business and tourism and bring more vitality and motivation to exchange between and development of China and Turkey.

Ge Huayong said that Turkey is the end of ancient Silk Road and is an important country along “the Belt and Road”. UnionPay is very happy to establish a payment bridge for their trade, economic and tourism exchanges. This full cooperation with Yapı Kredi in acceptance business of UnionPay cards not only enhances travel payment experience of cardholders to Turkey, but also lays the foundation for further in-depth cooperation between the two sides in issuing cards and mobile payment.

Yapı Kredi is the fourth largest private bank in Turkey and one of the largest credit card issuers in the country. The two sides have agreed to open -350,000 merchants, 4,000 ATMs and 2,000 websites under the bank to accept UnionPay cards during the year, including online merchants covering retails, supermarkets, travels and other areas.

Gokhan Erun said that in recent years, Asian merchants and businesses that have made trade, investment and travel to Turkey have increased rapidly, and UnionPay cards are their standing payment instruments. And they are very pleased to cooperate with UnionPay International in accepting UnionPay cards, which will also help local businesses attract more consumers and achieve all-win results.

In the Middle East, there are 11 countries and regions which have opened UnionPay card business. The United Arab Emirates and Jordan have achieved full coverage for accepting UnionPay cards; 50% of merchants and 40% of ATMs in Qatar accept UnionPay cards. And UnionPay cards have also been issued in Pakistan, UAE, Jordan and Yemen.