On December 11, in Nairobi, Kenya, UnionPay International, major local commercial banks Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) held card issuance ceremonies respectively to increase the scale of UnionPay card issuance in Kenya on a large scale and enrich local residents' daily consumption and cross-border payment options. Shao Fujun, Chairman of China UnionPay, attended the card issuance ceremony.
Shao Fujun said that since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, UnionPay has accelerated the construction of Kenya's acceptance network and business localization process to serve the cross-border payment needs brought about by bilateral economic and trade cooperation and personnel exchanges. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kenya, and UnionPay has taken this opportunity to deepen cooperation with all parties in the Kenyan industry to further enhance its service capabilities for local residents and jointly promote the development of local financial inclusion.
In Kenya, about 90% of merchants accept UnionPay cards, and a large number of merchants have also opened UnionPay mobile payment services, with a cumulative issuance of more than 1 million local UnionPay cards. This is the first time that UnionPay and Fairness Bank have reached a card issuance cooperation, and local residents can not only apply for UnionPay physical cards, but also apply for UnionPay virtual cards in the bank's EAZZY APPThe Commercial Bank of Kenya has also further expanded the issuance of UnionPay cards and will enable all its online merchants to support UnionPay cards** payments.
Samuel Kirubi, Chief Operating Officer of Equitable Bank, said the issuance of the UnionPay card will provide our customers with new options for local and cross-border payments. In the future, we will cooperate with UnionPay to promote the implementation of more innovative payment products and create a new payment ecosystem in East Africa.
Annastacia Kimtal, General Manager of Kenya Commercial Bank, said that this issuance is the latest milestone in our partnership with UnionPay and will facilitate Kenya's connection with other economies around the world. In the future, we will deepen cooperation with UnionPay in more areas to better promote bilateral development.
At present, the UnionPay network has covered 63.5 million online and offline merchants in 180 countries and regions, and more than 200 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 79 overseas countries and regions. Among them, the overall acceptance coverage rate of UnionPay cards in Africa has exceeded 80%, and 15 countries including Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have issued UnionPay cards locally.