China UnionPay customers last year initiated 6.94 billion debit and credit card transactions in China in 2009, up by 21.8% from 5.7 billion in 2008, according to China UnionPay. The value of the transactions grew by 66.8%, to 7.7 trillion yuan (US$5.4 trillion or 3.9 trillion euros) in 2009 from 4.61 trillion yuan in 2008.
“This information proves that [UnionPay] bankcards remain the most primary means of payment except cash,” a spokesperson for the issuer adds.
Some 15.7 million merchants in China accepted UnionPay cards last year, up 33.1% from 11.8 million a year earlier. The 24.1 million point-of-sale terminals accepting the cards were up 48.8% from 16.2 million in 2008, while the 200,000 ATMs where UnionPay cardholders could use their cards represented 17.6% growth from 170,000, according to the issuer.
