Greek Immigration focuses on Life in Greece: On October 8, UnionPay International released the latest data on overseas transactions, indicating that the number and amount of UnionPay card transactions abroad continued to grow during the National Day holiday. The continuous expansion and optimization of the merchant structure accepting UnionPay cards abroad better cater to the trend of Chinese tourists shifting from group travel to independent travel, making the use of UnionPay cards abroad a habit for Chinese tourists traveling overseas.
During the National Day holiday, affected by a decline of about 3% in transactions in the Hong Kong region, the amount of UnionPay card transactions abroad increased by 9% year-on-year, while the number of transactions increased by 36%. Excluding the Hong Kong market, the transaction amount and number of transactions for UnionPay cards abroad increased by 14% and 55%, respectively, maintaining continuous growth.
Data shows that Chinese tourists are increasingly diversifying their destination choices for overseas travel. The transaction growth rates for traditional popular destinations such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan remain above 60%. Meanwhile, the transaction volume of UnionPay cards in emerging travel destinations such as Greece, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand has seen several-fold increases, while countries in Europe and America, such as France and Italy, continue to experience significant growth, reflecting the expansion of the UnionPay card acceptance network as the destinations for Chinese tourists increase. In these emerging popular travel destinations, merchants accepting UnionPay cards have become an important means to attract Chinese tourists. Currently, UnionPay cards can be used at approximately 800,000 merchants and 230,000 ATMs across 20 countries and regions in Europe.
At the same time, to adapt to the shift of Chinese tourists from group travel to independent travel and from pure shopping to a return to rational and leisure spending, in recent years, UnionPay International has focused on covering more daily consumption types of merchants in the process of expanding acceptance abroad, to better meet the card usage needs of tourists. During the long holiday, the growth rate of UnionPay card transactions for dining, accommodation, and leisure entertainment abroad exceeded that of shopping. For example, in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore, the usage of UnionPay cards is gradually expanding from sightseeing merchants to supermarkets, gas stations, and many taxis also accept UnionPay card payments. During the National Day holiday, a Weibo user stated: “When traveling to Taiwan, just bring a UnionPay card. Currently, 90% of ATMs in Taiwan have the UnionPay logo, allowing direct withdrawals with UnionPay cards. Just look for ATMs with the UnionPay logo at 7-11, FamilyMart, or post offices!”
Currently, in over 140 countries and regions abroad, more than 12 million merchants and over 1.1 million ATMs accept UnionPay cards, essentially covering the main overseas travel destinations for Chinese people. To facilitate cardholders' travel, UnionPay International continuously enriches the overseas service and guarantee system for UnionPay cards, providing long-term services such as emergency cash support, cross-border remittances, UnionPay Platinum VIP lounges, and tax refunds for overseas card consumption.