UnionPay
- Company role:
- Card scheme
- Head office:
- Shanghai, China
China's state-owned card network, issued in Australia by Bank of China (Australia) and widely accepted through the major banks — but not RBA-designated.
About UnionPay
China UnionPay was established in March 2002 under approval of the People’s Bank of China and is state-owned rather than listed. Its international arm, UnionPay International, has been registered in Australia since October 2014 and trades locally as UnionPay International South Pacific.
It operates as a four-party scheme, licensing issuing and acquiring to member institutions — accepted in 183 countries and regions, issued in 84, across more than 2,600 institutions. Bank of China (Australia) issued Australia’s first UnionPay dual-currency AUD/CNY debit card in 2013.
Australian acceptance was built out through the majors in the mid-2010s, with ANZ enabling its full ATM and merchant estate in June 2015 and Westpac committing to around 150,000 terminals. UnionPay is not designated by the RBA and has given no undertaking, so it sits outside the 1 October 2026 surcharging changes.
Official site: unionpayintl.com
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