China Unionpay (CUP), the country's only national electronic payment and interbank network operator, posted record card transactions of 12.31 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion) on New Year's Day, up 70 percent year-on-year.

 

Statistics show that CUP cards were used in 20.75 million trans-bank transactions on Jan, 1, up 13.4 percent, with trade volume reaching 12.09 billion yuan, up 70.7 percent.

 

Transactions in Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and overseas markets saw a total daily transaction of 220 million yuan, up 53.4 percent over last New Year's Day.

 

According to CUP, the trend was not a one-day aberration with card transactions on Jan. 2 hitting 5.51 billion yuan, up 49.3 percent from the same period in 2005.

 

The bankcard organization, founded in March 2002, has its Unionpay cards accepted by 400,000 ATMs in 23 countries and regions.

 

The CUP's 22 overseas issuers have issued 130,000 credit cards and 230,000 debit cards with total issuance expected to top one million in 2007, said Wan.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2007)