East Africa’s Equity Bank Ltd. has become the third financial institution in Africa to sign an ATM-access deal with China UnionPay, according to the China-based card organization.
The deal, announced last week, will help both institutions to increase the number of ATMs available to their customers. Equity customers now may use their Visa-branded cards at any China UnionPay ATM or point-of-sale terminal throughout the world surcharge free, and UnionPay cardholders now may access any of Equity’s 650 ATMs in the region at no extra cost.
The companies say they struck the deal to cater to a growing Chinese population in East Africa that has accompanied China’s massive investments in infrastructure development, energy, oil and mineral exploration in the region.
China UnionPay, which has issued more than 2.5 billion cards globally, has in the past year increased its footprint in Africa.
In January, it signed an agreement to enable Chinese tourists to use their UnionPay cards to access Standard Chartered Bank South Africa (P) Ltd. ATMs in several African countries, including Kenya, Zambia, Gambia, Uganda and Botswana (
The issuer last year had signed a similar agreement with South Africa-based Standard Bank for acceptance of its cards at ATMs in that country.
Countries that accept UnionPay cards outside China now include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, South Africa and the United States.
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