China UnionPay, commonly known as UnionPay or CUP, is the only bankcard association in China which was established in March 2002. Started in China, UnionPay has always worked towards the growing demand of international payment cards
China Union Pay (CUP) aka UnionPay is the only domestic bank card scheme in The People’s Republic of China and is issued by some 14 members of the UnionPay card association throughout mainland China.  Merchants should be aware that CUP cards generally have limits put into place for card-not present or e-commerce transactions by the issuers which may differ from the cardholder’s actual card limit which can potentially limit the use of this card type for high ticket items.
As one of the leading competitors in the market, UnionPay has reached the same number of U.S. merchants with Visa and MasterCard and has expanded its ecommerce reach by issuing more than more than 10 million UnionPay cards in 17 countries.
Cardholders worldwide can now use UnionPay bankcards though other emerging channels like the internet, mobile phone, fixed line, virtual terminals and even digital TV as UnionPay strives to meet diversified requirements for bankcard use.
Cards can be designated as single currency or dual currency cards.  Only Chinese Yuan (RMB) single currency cards possessing “62” as the leading digits and bearing a China UnionPay logo in the bottom right-hand corner of the card are considered the UnionPay card type. Cards containing both a UnionPay logo and a Visa/MasterCard/American Express logo (co-branded) support both Chinese Yuan (RMB) and a foreign currency, but are considered the co-branded Visa/MasterCard/American Express card type. Most payment gateways are only able to support Union Pay Debit cards.
          
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