China UnionPay ties up with Vietnamese bank network

Jul. 20, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China UnionPay, the country's largest bank card organization, on Friday entered a partnership with Banknetvn, a major bank card network in Vietnam, to expand CUP card use in the nation, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Cai Jianbo, first executive vice president of China UnionPay, said at a ceremony that 90% of the automatic teller machines in Vietnam will accept CUP cards after the establishment of the cooperation.

Banknetvn, a shorter name for Vietnam National Financial Switching JointStock Company, has around 6,000 ATMs in Vietnam.

China UnionPay, which entered Vietnam in 2005, has gained valuable experience in the country.

In late April, China UnionPay officially launched a subsidiary in the U.S. as part of its globalization effort, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge. The company currently has more than 1.8 billion cards in circulation that can be used in 61 nations around the world.

By the end of June, China UnionPay's network included 1,350,000 domestic merchants, 2,110,000 POS terminals and 180,000 ATM machines, according to the company.