China Unionpay (CUP), the country's only national electronic
payment and interbank network operator, posted record card
transactions of 12.31 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion) on New Year's
Day, up 70 percent year-on-year.
Statistics show that CUP cards were used in 20.75 million
trans-bank transactions on Jan, 1, up 13.4 percent, with trade
volume reaching 12.09 billion yuan, up 70.7 percent.
Transactions in Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative
Regions and overseas markets saw a total daily transaction of 220
million yuan, up 53.4 percent over last New Year's Day.
According to CUP, the trend was not a one-day aberration with
card transactions on Jan. 2 hitting 5.51 billion yuan, up 49.3
percent from the same period in 2005.
The bankcard organization, founded in March 2002, has its
Unionpay cards accepted by 400,000 ATMs in 23 countries and
regions.
The CUP's 22 overseas issuers have issued 130,000 credit cards
and 230,000 debit cards with total issuance expected to top one
million in 2007, said Wan.
(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)