TORONTO
,
Sept. 28
/CNW/ - INTERAC, Canada's national debit network, and
China
Unionpay, China's national bank card payment network, have launched a new service that will give
China
Unionpay cardholders travelling in
Canada
the ability to withdraw cash from ABMs of participating acquirers in
Canada
.
The agreement with
China
Unionpay builds on international expansion of the INTERAC network, which already has agreements in place with two U.S. debit networks.
"
China
Unionpay is another milestone in our efforts to expand our payment services internationally," said Mark O'Connell, President and CEO, Acxsys Corporation and Interac Association. "With approximately 250 associate members, 1.9 billion
China
Unionpay cards, and acceptance in 67 other countries and regions,
China
Unionpay has extensive reach and opens up a wealth of opportunity for INTERAC."
The agreement with
China
Unionpay is expected to drive incremental ABM volumes for Canadian acquirers, by providing access to a growing cardholder base. In fact, according to the World Tourism Organization,
China
will become one of the top three outbound tourism markets in the world by 2010.
"We appreciate INTERAC's efforts to enable
China
Unionpay cards at ABMs in
Canada
," said Luode XU, President and CEO,
China
Unionpay. "
China
Unionpay will further strengthen the global cooperation to make
China
Unionpay cards a world-class bank card brand. It will not only provide Chinese, but also foreigners, with better, safer and more efficient payment service."
China
Unionpay and INTERAC networks will connect through a Gateway, eliminating network setup and significantly reducing development costs for Canadian acquirers.
Access to the service is available to all Canadian acquirers interested in evolving their ABM service offerings. Currently the service is being offered at ABMs across
Canada
operated by CIBC and Open Solutions. ABMs that offer the service will feature the
China
Unionpay logo.
About Acxsys Corporation
Acxsys Corporation, comprised of eight large financial institutions as shareholders, is headquartered in
Toronto
, Ontario. Acxsys specializes in the development and operation of new payment service opportunities as well as consulting and management services in the field of electronic payments. The Corporation's shareholders are the architects of Canada's national network for shared electronic financial services: INTERAC Direct Payment, Canada's national debit card service and INTERAC Shared Cash Dispensing Service for cash withdrawals at Automated Banking Machines. For more information, please visit www.interac.ca.
About
China
Unionpay
China
Unionpay (CUP), founded in
March 2002
, is a national bank card network in the People's Republic of
China
operating under the approval of the People's Bank of
China
. Headquartered in
Shanghai
, CUP has grown into a bank card network with approximately 250 associate members worldwide. 1.9 billion CUP cards have been issued by member banks worldwide. CUP has extended its reach into many other countries and regions, including
Australia
,
Japan
,
France
, UK,
Germany
,
Macau
,
Hong Kong
, and USA. CUP cards can currently be accepted in 67 other countries and regions. For more information, visit http://en.chinaunionpay.com
For further information: Tina Romano, Acxsys Corporation/Interac Association, (416) 869-5062 or [email protected]
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