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Cashless shopping now easier for Chinese visitors
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| Ong Bi Hui |
Sat, Apr 12, 2008
The Straits Times
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TOURISTS and businessmen from booming mainland China will now find it easier to go on a plastic-fuelled shopping spree while in Singapore.
United Overseas Bank (UOB) has just signed an agreement with China's national card network operator, China Unionpay (CUP).
The deal will allow the growing number of Chinese visitors to make payments in Singapore using CUP credit and debit cards.
CUP cardholders can already get cash from ATMs at Singapore's three local banks: UOB, OCBC Bank and DBS Bank.
| However, this is the first deal in the Republic that allows CUP cardholders to use their cards at retail outlets.
The service is available at merchants who sign up with UOB, which has a 40 per cent share of merchants accepting MasterCard and Visa.
The deal also gives the 1.4 billion CUP credit and debit cardholders the convenience of cashless transactions in their national currency, and special discounts offered by UOB merchants.
'The partnership with UOB will not only better serve the needs of our CUP card members, but it will also bring added value and opportunities to the Singapore merchants and retailers,' said Mr Jeffrey Huang, vice-president of China Unionpay's international division.
UOB currently has 17,000 merchant establishments under its wing ranging, from hospitals and convenience stores to firms in the leisure and telecommunications sectors.
Some of the retailers and service providers who will be accepting CUP cards include hotels like Shangri-La, luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, electronics stores like Best Denki, and dining chains such as the Tung Lok Group.
Merchants interested in tapping the huge influx of Chinese tourists into Singapore have been invited to sign up with UOB to provide the payment service.
Last year, more than a million Chinese tourists visited Singapore - the second-largest group of foreign visitors after Indonesians - and spent more than $1.1 billion in the Republic. Merchants in Singapore are hopeful that the deal will help boost spending by visitors from China.
CUP is teaming up with UOB for the initiative as it hopes to make the most of the bank's strong profile in Singapore, especially its strength in the luxury retail sector.
For its part, UOB is capitalising on CUP's dominance in the Chinese market to build its brand there.
UOB and CUP are also set to launch a new credit card by the end of the year, which will allow Singaporeans to pay for purchases made at retailers worldwide which accept CUP cards as well.
This collaboration is the latest in a series of agreements signed by Singapore banks and China Unionpay to increase the acceptance of CUP's cards in the Republic.
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