Global Payments Expands China UnionPay Card Acceptance Service to Five Additional Asian Markets

HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, PHILIPPINES, SRI LANKA, MALDIVES & BRUNEI, May 6/PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited ("Global Payments"), a joint venture between the U.S.-based Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited ("HSBC"), has launched China UnionPay ("CUP") card acceptance service in Brunei, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka. This service allows mainland Chinese tourists to pay for goods and services with their CUP cards at merchants served by Global Payments. The extension of the CUP service to those five markets marks another major milestone for Global Payments' CUP card acceptance programme, which was started 6 years ago in Hong Kong and has since grown successfully into Macau, Malaysia and Taiwan.

(Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/xprn/sa/200803261513.jpg )

With more than 2.1 billion CUP cards in circulation and the rising number of Mainland Chinese travelling around Asia, the new service empowers Global Payments merchants in Brunei, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka to capture the rising spending trends of the mainland Chinese visitors, who presently pay mostly with cash. Merchants can simply add the CUP card acceptance functionality to their Global Payments' point-of-sale terminals through a simple and free programming of the terminals.

Commenting on the launch, President - Global Payments Asia Pacific, Mr. Ian Courtnage, said, "Global Payments is the largest regional card merchant acquirer of China UnionPay by merchant base and we are proud to extend our regional expertise in processing CUP card transactions to more markets across Asia Pacific. China is contributing significantly to outbound tourism in many Asian destinations and our merchants in those markets can now welcome more mainland Chinese tourists to their establishments by accepting CUP card payments. CUP acquiring adds to our broad range of card types that we already support and this new service enhances Global Payments' one-stop-shop card processing strategy for merchants."

"We have a recognized partner in Global Payments with a reputation for providing high quality and innovative payment processing services. We are delighted to expand the acceptance of CUP cards to more Asian markets through Global Payments' extensive distribution network across Asia Pacific. This further expands our strategic relationship with Global Payments and the new service will offer added payment convenience for the growing number of Mainland Chinese travelers, " said Mr. Cai Jianbo, Executive Vice President of CUP.

About Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited (Global Payments), currently serving merchants in 11 countries and territories across Asia, is the largest pan-Asian card processing company in the region. The company is a strategic joint venture between Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide payment processor and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. The company brings a new level of innovation to merchant services in the region with an expanded range of innovative payment solutions, industry-leading merchant reporting tools, and unparalleled merchant services. Global Payments has established a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region and now operates in Brunei, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. For more information about the company and its services, please visit http://www.globalpayments-asia.com .

About China UnionPay

China UnionPay, established in 2002, is the national bankcard association in China. As the pivotal role of China's bankcard industry, China UnionPay is responsible for operating unified inter-bank clearing and settlement system in China and developing the international acceptance network for CUP cards. To date, the total number of CUP cards issued worldwide has exceeded 2.1 billion. As of now, CUP card international acceptance network has been extended to 90 countries and regions. Amongst these markets, over 10 of them, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Russia, Mongolia, etc., have issued CUP cards. For more information about the company and its services, please visit http://www.chinaunionpay.com .

    Media Relations Contact:

     Christine Li
     Tel:   +852-3529-5853
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited