China Unionpay issues 1 million bank cards in ROK

China Unionpay, the nation's largest bank card organization said on Wednesday that it had issued more than 1 million bank cards in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

It is China Unionpay's biggest issuance in a single foreign country since 2004 when it began to issue cards overseas.

The bank card's presence gained steam in the ROK notably after China Unionpay allied with BC Card, ROK's biggest credit card company in 2008.

The record issuance underlined the bright prospect between the two countries in the bank card sector, said Xu luode, president of China Unionpay.

China Unionpay's increasing presence in the ROK is against the backdrop of increasing trade and personnel exchanges between the two countries. Statistics show that bilateral trade volume topped $180 billion last year.

More than 5 million ROK citizens visited China and more than 1.1 million Chinese traveled to the ROK in 2008.
 

Source: BizChina