U.K.'s Link in Deal with China UnionPay

The U.K. automated teller machine network Link is permitting people with China UnionPay credit and debit cards to make withdrawals.

The agreement, which went into effect Wednesday, comes as the Chinese card network is making a push to become a bigger global brand; a handful of banks in other countries have agreed to issue the cards.

A Link representative said the initial response was strong — "there were hundreds of transactions even within the first hours of the connection going live."

An estimated 141,000 Chinese tourists visited the United Kingdom in 2007, according to the country's Office of National Statistics.

"We expect transactions to grow steadily along with the number of Chinese visits, with particularly large numbers of Chinese expected at the 2012 London Olympics," the Link representative said.

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