Another payment card option is available for Chinese travelers in Europe. According to the following report SIX, Bank of China and UnionPay are teaming up to introduce the new Europe Card.
European merchants will be able to benefit from the purchase power of a new generation of individual travelers, both in-store and in e-Commerce.
The “Europe Card” card targets Chinese consumers traveling to Europe for business or leisure purposes. This audience has long been identified as very attractive, especially with high end merchants, who will also benefit from intensive card usage promotion: as an incentive during the launch phase, cardholders are eligible for up to 5% cash back for purchases at selected merchants. Thanks to the collaboration with SIX, Swiss jewelers Bucherer and Beyer are amongst these premium partners.
The new Europe card is a further addition to the successful Bank of China’s “Travel Mate Credit Card” programme of approximately 2 million Cards, including Korea Card, Japan Card and USA Card, all based on the UnionPay scheme.
SIX has been UnionPay’s European acquiring partner for 10 years now, during which UnionPay rose to number one card scheme worldwide, even surpassing Visa in 2015 in terms transaction volume and card population. In Switzerland alone, 90% of the merchant customers of SIX accept UnionPay cards. By adding UnionPay to its e-commerce portfolio SIX will enable its merchant customers to target Chinese consumers through their web channel, for example for individual travelers’ hotel bookings or online shopping.
No surprise that European payment providers are creating more options for acceptance of China-based credit cards. SIX and UnionPay have been partners for ten years and the additional collaboration is a logical step. In addition to taking advantage of the increased travel to Europe, Chinese consumers shopping on the web for European goods and services will be able to use the new payment method as well.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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