SHANGHAI, Oct. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to China's National Tourism Administration, China's outbound tourism reaches its peak during this National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, with the USA, Canada, Australia, France and Egypt being the preferred long-distance destinations. It's reported that more than 21 million merchants and 1.5 million ATMs outside the Chinese Mainland accept UnionPay cards.
To welcome Chinese tourists, merchants are taking the acceptance of UnionPay as a significant service. Recently, the two largest hotel groups in Europe have accepted UnionPay cards, including 200 stores of Louvre Hotels Group and 110 stores of Accor Hotels. Europcar Car Rental, across 10 European countries, also start to accept UnionPay; and Moscow and St. Petersburg subway and buses accept UnionPay cards to buy tickets.
Currently, UnionPay is accepted in 162 countries and regions, not only including traditionally popular destinations like Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, but also including some niche countries in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. Multiple UnionPay payment methods are available, such as card-based, contactless and mobile payment.
Survey shows that 54.3% of Chinese tourists choose to go on free-and-independent trips for this National Day Holiday. To meet their needs, UnionPay has extended its acceptance network from duty-free stores, shopping centers and hotels to travel booking, specialty foods, leisure and recreation and public transportation.
Many car rental companies in the US, Thailand, UAE and Europe support UnionPay cards; Cardholders may use UnionPay card to pay for the taxi fare in Australia, Singapore, Japan; Tourists may also purchase Eurail all-pass ticket and Taiwan high speed rail ticket online.
In Europe, over 2.3 million merchants accept UnionPay card. In the US, almost all ATMs accept UnionPay for cash withdrawal, and over 80% of local merchants accept UnionPay credit cards.
As more Chinese people prefer to pay with mobile phones, merchants are also accepting UnionPay mobile payment products. Recently, UnionPay mobile QuickPass service was launched in Greece, which enables UnionPay cardholders to pay with a tap-and-go move. No PIN nor signature is required for small-ticket payment. By the end of this year, Piraeus Bank, the largest bank group in Greece will enable 50,000 local merchants to support mobile QuickPass.
UnionPay mobile QuickPass supports various payment methods including NFC and QR code. NFC QuickPass is accepted at over 520,000 POS terminals in more than 10 countries and regions including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia and the UAE, while QR Code QuickPass is launched in Hong Kong and Singapore.
UnionPay cardholders are also able to easily claim for tax refund with mobile phones. In Australia, UnionPay credit cardholders can claim for tax refund online via the tax refund APP, "TRS". Chinese tourists who have shopped at over 150 German merchants can claim for tax refund to their UnionPay cards via the APP of "Safety Tax Free".
