UK ATM Network Accepts Unionpay Cards

Source: CardLine Global

Link, a United Kingdom-based ATM network, on Wednesday began to support cash withdrawals initiated with China UnionPay credit and debit cards. Link's network includes 64,000 ATMs. "There were hundreds of transactions even within the first hours of the connection going live," a Link spokesperson told CardLine Global Wednesday. UnionPay, an electronic-payment network backed by the Chinese government, lately has mounted a international-expansion campaign to make itself into one of the world's leading card brands. "A number of overseas card issuers in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere have been interested in access to the Link network because of the unique reach this provides in the UK," the spokesperson says. "China UnionPay is naturally one of these partners as it has fast become an important international card scheme. Some banks outside of China have issued or are planning to issue UnionPay cards. None of the member financial institutions of the UK Cards Association, which represents major banks, issues UnionPay cards, a spokesperson for the group tells CardLine Global. An estimated 141,000 Chinese tourists visited the UK in 2007 and spent at least 181 million pounds (US$299.1 million or 210.2 million euros), according to the country's Office of National Statistics. At least 100,000 Chinese students also study in the UK. "We expect transactions to grow steadily along with the number of Chinese visits, with particularly large numbers of Chinese expected at the 2012 London Olympics," the Link spokesperson says. Financial institutions have issued more than 1.8 billion cards carrying the UnionPay brand, the card organization says.