China UnionPay to expand bankcard service in Europe

China UnionPay Co. Ltd.(CUP), the country's largest bank card payment processor, announced Saturday that it has inked cooperation agreement with NETS, a leading payment service provider in North Europe, to expand CUP's service in Europe.

The CUP and NETS will work together to expand CUP's card acceptance in more European regions, provide CUP card processing and transaction services to more European institutions and increase service quality, according to the agreement.

CUP's rapid expansion of overseas card acceptance aims to better support Chinese consumers travelling overseas, as well as other CUP card holders in different countries and regions, said Xu Luode, China UnionPay president.

NETS is the biggest bankcard transaction service provider in North Europe, which is a result of a merger between Norwegian Nordito AS and the holding company of the Danish company PBS in 2010.

Currently, CUP cards are accepted in 130 countries and regions worldwide, and CUP card services have been launched in 37 European countries, including Denmark and Iceland.

The cooperation between CUP and NETS will not only provide better CUP card services in the North European region, but at the same time boost economic and trade ties between China and Denmark, said Xu.