Today, Barclaycard announces a new card acceptance partnership with UnionPay International.
It is a subsidiary of China UnionPay. This partnership will allow the 110,000 Barclaycard UK merchants to accept UnionPay. The phased roll out will begin this summer.
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Chinese tourists flood the UK every year. Therefore this partnership will boost the availability of the preferred payment brand for many Chinese consumers.
For UK merchants and retailers, accepting UnionPay will drive sales from international visitors.
Cardholders will benefit from the familiarity of paying with their UnionPay cards and mobile payment products. This is available both in-store and online, across Barclaycard’s UK merchant network. This includes, major retailers, transport providers and hotels and restaurants.
Barclays partners UnionPay: boosting international travel
This year, the UK expects to host more visitors from China.
Furthermore, Visit Britain indicates that bookings are up 31% from January to June this year. This is compared to the same period in 2018.
In addition, visitors from China are some of the UK’s highest spenders, spending on average £2,059 ($2,700) each per visit, more than three times the all-market visitor average.
CEO of Payment Acceptance at Barclaycard, Rob Cameron, said: “We have invested in our payments platform so that our merchants can seamlessly accept the different payment options that their customers want to use. With the world’s largest cardholder base, we’re excited to add UnionPay as a partner and open up acceptance to our 110,000 UK merchants.
“China is one of the UK’s most valuable inbound visitor markets, and this deal means our UK merchants will be able to better serve Chinese and global consumers who choose UnionPay as their preferred payment method when shopping online or in-store.”
Wei Zhihong, UnionPay International’s market director and head of its European branch, added: “The UK remains an attractive destination for Chinese tourists and we are delighted to be partnering with Barclaycard in growing our network of acceptance.”
