SHANGHAI, Dec. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With the New Year holiday coming, many people are about to go traveling. Now, over 26 million merchants outside the Chinese Mainland accept UnionPay cards and, in the next month, over 70 popular commercial districts will provide special offers for UnionPay cardholders.

UnionPay offers increasingly smooth payment experience to its global cardholders

So far, UnionPay's acceptance footprint has expanded to 171 countries and regions, covering almost all the popular travel destinations. Since the beginning of this year, the acceptance coverage of UnionPay in many emerging tourist destinations has continued to grow. For example, in South Asia, UnionPay International has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India to enable all the local ATMs and half of the local merchants to accept UnionPay cards. In the Middle East, UnionPay has reached 90% acceptance coverage in Turkey. UnionPay has also realized about 100% acceptance in South Africa and Kenya through collaboration with various local agencies. In Portugal, UnionPay is accepted at all ATMs and about 80% merchants.

To better serve free-and-independent travelers, UnionPay International continues to enrich the types of merchants that accept UnionPay, focusing particularly on hotels and transportation. To date, UnionPay is accepted at several of the world's top hotel brands, including Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, Shangri-La and Hilton. UnionPay International has also reached collaboration with the world's top car rental brands, namely Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Enterprise and Sixt.

UnionPay offers available now in over 70 business districts worldwide

In the CBD of Auckland, UnionPay cards are accepted at almost all shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas. Popular merchants such as The Loop Duty Free Shop and Live Fish Restaurant also offer special discounts for UnionPay cardholders.

UnionPay's acceptance coverage has exceeded 90% in popular business districts such as the Auckland CBD. The UnionPay logo can be found easily in these districts and many merchants provide Chinese cashier service. Based on its expanding acceptance, UnionPay is providing up to 30%-off discounts at quality merchants in 76 key business districts in more than 30 countries and regions. These business districts are located in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US.

With UnionPay mobile payment service accepted in 43 countries and regions, UnionPay is also providing special offers for cardholders who spend via its mobile payment products. About 3,000 merchant locations in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and Europe offer instant discounts for customers who pay with UnionPay's mobile contactless payment service, QuickPass. There are also 20%-off discounts for customers who pay via UnionPay's QR code payment solution, the UnionPay app, in Hong Kong.

SOURCE UnionPay International