Get UnionPay international today

+ What is UnionPay?

UnionPay or UnionPay international, founded in 2002, is the Chinese national card scheme. UnionPay operates under the control of the Central Bank of China. In China, all cardholders most likely have one card from UnionPay.

• UnionPay is accepted by 35 million merchants in China

• In 2019, 25 trillion euros have been processed via UnionPay’s network and 8,4 billion cards have been issued

• In 2020, the group was present in 178 countries and regions and accepted by 56 million merchants worldwide

• In 2020, 130 million UnionPay cards have been issued outside of China

• In 2020, UnionPay was holding 2 times Visa's international market share and 3 times Mastercard's

• In France, UnionPay cards are now accepted by 80% of ATMs and more than 250 000 merchants, including, Galeries Lafayette, Longchamp, Sephora, Printemps…

+ Who can accept UnionPay cards?

UnionPay cards have been launched in Europe a few years ago and can now be accepted by most merchants in the European Union, except for certain sectors considered "High risk" or prohibited by the government.

+ In which countries can UnionPay be accepted?

UnionPay can be accepted in 178 countries and regions. If you want to know if your business can open a UnionPay account, do not hesitate to contact us.

+ Does Silkpay have a PrestaShop plugin for UnionPay?

Yes, Silkpay has launched a free PrestaShop plugin that allows merchants to accept UnionPay as well as Alipay, WeChat Pay, Visa and Mastercard payments in your e-commerce and decrease cart abandonment.

+ How to open a UnionPay account?

To open a UnionPay account (in-store, online or both) with Silkpay, you will be asked to send us the documents in the list below:

• Your company’s registration certificate
• The articles of association (signed and sealed)
• Identification documents and proofs of address (administrative invoice for example) dating from less than three months of legal representative and shareholders (holding > 10% of capital or voting right)
• The company’s bank account number.

We collect your company's bank account number because it is necessary to send you the payments received from your clients. All the collected bank account information is encrypted and highly secured to protect your data.

Please contact us if you are an association or an auto-entrepreneur or if you have any questions about the documents to provide.

+ How long does it take to open a UnionPay account?

After checking your documents, it will take 5 business days to open an account for UnionPay. In case of an emergency, it is possible to complete the opening in 48 hours.

+ What is UnionPay pricing?

Silkpay offers the most competitive rate on the market. Sellers pay a commission rate per transaction on successful transactions only. Our commission rate includes compensation for UnionPay, bank transfer and foreign exchange fees. For more information on our UnionPay pricing, contact our team.

+ What is the transaction limit for UnionPay?

Cloud QuickPass (Yunshanfu), UnionPay's QR code, has a transaction limit of 500 euros per transaction.

To process a large transaction, we suggest using the UnionPay POS terminal, which does not have a limit on transaction amount. The limit is based on the payer's UnionPay card. For example, a merchant can accept up to 300,000 euros per transaction via the POS terminal.

+ Why accept UnionPay?

• Gain trust: By accepting UnionPay cards in your physical store or e-commerce, you give a sense of reassurance to Chinese customers and make them buy from you with no hesitation.

• No payment limit: UnionPay card users have no payment cap. They can spend as much as they want wherever they are. $850 000 is the highest amount that has been spent with a UnionPay card in Australia.

• Boost your revenue: Having UnionPay logo in your store is a competitive advantage that will bring the world's largest network of cardholders directly to your business. It also makes Chinese customers spend more in your store.

• Secure payment: Thanks to the high security measures put in place, UnionPay sets the record of the fewest fraud cases recorded ever. In France, 0 cases of fraud have been recorded since the launch of the UnionPay card in the country in 2006.

+ Where is UnionPay accepted?

Today, UnionPay has expanded its business to over 181 countries in the world, including China, France, Germany, UK, Japan...

In China, UnionPay is launched in 23 million stores. And outside of China, there have been more than 55 million stores that accept UnionPay. Among the stores that accept UnionPay payments in Europe, we can name ISIC, AXA and Printemps. They all can be paid via UnionPay without restrictions.

UnionPay is also one of the most popular payment methods in e-commerce. It is accepted not only on Chinese platforms such as Taobao and Jingdong, but also on global platforms like Amazon and eBay.

Wherever you are in the world and whatever industry you are in, you can accept UnionPay easily and safely through API, PaybyLink, QR code, POS machine or Cash register system.