China Records 40% Rise In Inter-bank Card Transaction In 2011

China's inter-bank card transaction was valued at 15.9 trillion yuan (US$2.52 trillion) in 2011, growing more than 40 per cent from a year earlier, said China UnionPay on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, numbers of merchants, POS system and ATM machines that accept UnionPay cards rose by 41.1 per cent, 40.2 per cent and 34.8 per cent year on year, and the growth rates were all larger than in 2010.

In 2011, China UnionPay completed establishing non-card transaction platform and further expanded usage of UnionPay cards. Card holders can not only use UnionPay cards in traditional channels like ATM machines and POS system, but also make payments through Internet, mobile phone and television. By now, card holder can purchase goods directly from over 800 million overseas online merchants.

Moreover, the number of countries and regions where UnionPay were issued grew to 22 in 2011. Its overseas transaction value soared 58 per cent on year in 2011. Additionally, environment for Chinese users to make payments in the US and Europe has been greatly improved.