ANZ says its point-of-sale (POS) and ATM terminals throughout New Zealand will begin accepting UnionPay credit and debit cards, enhancing service and convenience for UnionPay cardholders worldwide.
ANZ is the first bank in New Zealand to accept QuickPass, UnionPay’s tap & go solution for both credit and debit cards, across its eftpos network. Selected POS terminals now accept QuickPass, with the rollout continuing to all eligible merchants over the next 12-18 months.
UnionPay is the most commonly used payment tool by outbound Chinese people, with 5.6 billion cards in circulation across more than 150 countries. It is also currently the only card network that issues, clears and settles in Chinese Yuan.
Speaking at a launch ceremony held at the Hilton Auckland yesterday, ANZ New Zealand CEO David Hisco said acceptance of UnionPay cards at ANZ POS terminals would be welcomed by the growing number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand.
“Every year, the number of Chinese tourists, students and businesspeople travelling to New Zealand grows. Over the past year international arrivals from China have increased 35 per cent.
“As a super-regional bank operating in 34 markets, we recognised that we needed to expand our card payment options to support customers’ cross-border activities, and make the payments process simpler and more convenient for them while they are here.”
The move follows on from a successful launch of UnionPay QuickPass card and ATM acceptance by ANZ in Australia during June 2015. Having now enabled QuickPass into the New Zealand market, the groundwork has been laid for ANZ to launch into a further 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region throughout 2016.
David Lee, chief co-operation officer for UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay said that through cooperation with ANZ, UnionPay’s acceptance footprint in Australia and New Zealand is now substantially improved.
“We also launched innovative services in conformity with the emerging trend of payment technologies, providing UnionPay cardholders with flexible payment experiences. In the future, we will deepen our cooperation with ANZ to promote its network in other Asia-Pacific markets to accept UnionPay cards,” Lee said.
UnionPay card acceptance will be introduced to ANZ eftpos terminals and ATMs across 11 Asia Pacific markets from April 2016.
