Brand Strategy Blog
China UnionPay: first US Card Launch Event in NYC
12On April 29, BrandLabs in collaboration with 9.8 Group partner agency Global NY has held the main launch event for China UnionPay – the largest bank card organization in China. On this groundbreaking day, UnionPay has become the first Chinese company to start issuing prepaid travel cards for American tourists and business travelers who frequently visit the Asia-Pacific region. It is the first card UnionPay has issued in the United States, and it’s partnering with Bancorp Bank, a subsidiary of Wilmington, Delaware-based Bancorp Inc. According to Xinhua, the card can be used in more than 90 percent of ATMs and 80 percent of merchants in the United States. UnionPay has now issued cards in almost 30 countries.
UnionPay Chairman Su Ning explained that the company is seeking to offer convenient services to American cardholders while improving Chinese customers’ payment experiences in the US through partnerships with domestic financial institutions.
The first cards, featuring the UnionPay logo on their face, will be directed mainly at Chinese-American communities across the country. The UnionPay travel card issued by Bancorp is primarily aimed at American tourists and businesspeople who travel to Asia frequently.
“The fact that it’s being targeted predominantly to Chinese communities and will have very little name recognition with the broader US audience to begin with doesn’t bode well for mainstream adoption,” said John Kiernan, an analyst with CardHub.com, a US website that compares credit cards.
That’s not the view of Bancorp, according to CEO Betsy Cohen.
“You have to start from some place where people know you and your brand name,” Cohen said at Monday’s ceremony. “I think the name UnionPay – although not as prominent as Visa and MasterCard in the US today – will grow in importance, and that’s why we formed this partnership.” As the biggest US issuer of prepaid cards, Bancorp has a sales network of over 550 banks that can offer UnionPay cards to a broad range of clients.
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