China UnionPay: In the first quarter of 2015, UnionPay transaction volume reached 11.8 trillion yuan, surpassing VISA to become the world's largest card organization

The latest data from China UnionPay shows that in the first quarter of 2015, the total global transaction volume of UnionPay cards reached 11.8 trillion yuan (about 1.9 trillion US dollars). This means that after the card issuance volume exceeded VISA for many consecutive years, China UnionPay has surpassed Visa in terms of transaction volume for the first time, becoming the world's largest bank card clearing organization. The People's Daily Overseas Edition reported on Wednesday that according to the financial data of Visa, the world's largest payment company in the same period, Visa's total transaction volume in the first quarter of this year was 1.75 trillion US dollars.

The total transaction volume of UnionPay cards issued by China UnionPay has surpassed Visa in the world, making it the international card organization with the largest transaction volume and the largest number of cards issued.

Currently, UnionPay cards can be used in 150 countries and regions outside China, with more than 26 million merchants and 1.8 million ATMs accepting UnionPay cards worldwide. More than 5 billion UnionPay cards have been issued worldwide, including in 40 countries and regions outside China.

Based on China's huge card issuance market, China UnionPay has long been the largest international card organization in terms of card issuance volume. However, in terms of bank card transaction volume, Visa has always been at the top of the major card organizations.

The sustained growth of China's economy and the increasing spending power of cardholders have made UnionPay's position in the global card organizations continue to strengthen. The annual report "2014 Global Bank Card Industry" released by Nielsen in April this year showed that in 2014, Visa and MasterCard accounted for $55 of every $100 in transaction volume, of which Visa accounted for $37 of every $100, down from $40 in 2013; UnionPay accounted for $38, up from $33 in 2013.

It is worth noting that UnionPay continued to maintain the highest growth rate in the number of consumer transactions. In 2014, the number of UnionPay debit and credit card consumer transactions increased by 52.3%.

Under this high-speed growth trend, the transaction volume structure of the global bank card industry has undergone major changes in the first quarter of this year. Shi Wenchao, president of China UnionPay, said at a press conference on cooperation with Yintong that in the first quarter of 2015, the total global transaction volume of UnionPay cards reached 11.8 trillion yuan (about 1.9 trillion US dollars).

It is foreseeable that with the advancement of China's "Belt and Road" strategy and the continued internationalization of China UnionPay, China UnionPay's position in international card organizations will continue to improve and strengthen.

China's bank card clearing market access rules were implemented in April this year. The State Council issued a document stating that from June 1, access management will be implemented for bank card clearing institutions, and domestic corporate legal persons and foreign institutions will be fully allowed to enter the domestic bank card clearing business market.