ANZ ATM and POS terminals can now accept UnionPay cards
ANZ point-of-sale (POS) and ATM terminals across nine countries in the Pacific will now accept UnionPay cards, enhancing service and convenience for UnionPay cardholders worldwide. The service was launched at the Radisson Blu on Denarau Island last night by the Attorney-General and Minister for Finance, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
ANZ is the first bank in the Pacific to accept UnionPay EMV on ATMs, UnionPay’s more secure card solution for both credit and debit cards. As of yesterday, ANZ POS terminals and ATMs in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Timor Leste began to accept UnionPay cards.This is as the rollout continues across ANZ’s network in Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati and Cook Islands in coming weeks. UnionPay is the most commonly used payment tool by outbound Chinese people, with 5.4 billion cards issued globally. Currently, Unionpay cards can be accepted in 157 countries and regions. ANZ Regional Executive – Pacific Islands, Tessa Price, said for a bank which has been in the Pacific for 135 years, they recognised the need to expand their card payment options. This was in order to support customers’ growing cross-border activities. “And make payments simpler and more convenient for them while they are in the region. As China’s leading card network, having UnionPay enabled across our regional network is a significant step for ANZ and I’m pleased to see it come to fruition today,” Ms Price said.
Acceptance by Chinese visitors
ANZ Fiji acting chief executive, Saud Minam, said acceptance of UnionPay cards at ANZ POS terminals and ATMs would be welcomed by the growing number of Chinese visitors to Fiji and the Pacific. “Every year, the number of Chinese tourists, students and businesspeople travelling to the Pacific grows,” Mr Minam said.
“In Fiji alone, tourist and visitor arrivals from China increased 36 per cent last year. “Today we’re happy to expand our value proposition to support this growing connectivity across our regions and in particular to support Asia tourism flows across the Pacific.” The launch follows-on from a successful launch of UnionPay POS and ATM acceptance by ANZ in Australia in June 2015 and New Zealand in January 2016.
Cai Jianbo, Chief Executive Officer of UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay said: “The South Pacific Island States are an integral part of the 21st – century Maritime Silk Road. “With the increasingly frequent economic and trade contacts between China and the region, we are devoted to improving the local UnionPay acceptance environment so as to provide payment convenience to UnionPay cardholders visiting the countries. “Our co-operation with ANZ not only substantially improved UnionPay’ s acceptance footprint and card-using experiences in South Pacific, but will also lay a solid foundation for card-issuance there in the future. “Local issuance of UnionPay cards will offer new payment option for the local residents, and provide bidirectional support for the implementation of the ‘Belt and Road’ Strategy.”