Monday, June 16, 2008

China UnionPay ATM Cards Now Accepted by Philippine Merchants with PayEasy Online Payment System

Philippine Internet merchants can now accept online payments from 1.3 billion Chinese who have China UnionPay (CUP) ATM cards! CUP is the one-and-only official inter-bank ATM network of China with all their major banks being part of that network. That's a super Bancnet + Megalink + ExpressNet ATM network multipled several-folds! An estimated 95% of all Chinese who have a bank account would have a CUP ATM card.

Granted that there are not a lot of online merchants who are targetting the Chinese market, we cannot ignore the fact that China is one of the world's fastest-growing economy. Their middle-class is increasingly spending more and travelling more. So local companies who are in the hospitality (hotels, resorts, spas) and medical tourism industry should seriously look into this market. And with PayEasy, they now have that option. Best of all, unlike credit cards, China UnionPay is an ATM/debit card. So merchants do not have to worry about those nasty chargebacks!

Credit cards still remain the most common mode of payment for online commerce. But with an estimated paltry 4% of the Philippine population having credit cards, it is important for merchants to consider other online modes of payment.

No comments: