UniCredit and UnionPay International (UPI) will cooperate in an agreement that will broaden Chinese bankcard use for tourism and business.
The agreement between UniCredit, one of the largest European banking group in Italy, and UnionPay, the national bankcard association of China, was announced during a November 14 ceremony in Milan attended by UnionPay Chairman Su Ning and UniCredit CEO Federico Ghizzoni.
At the ceremony, Mr. Ghizzoni said the agreement would accommodate Chinese tourists who currently visit Italy at a rate of over one million per year and are growing in number.
"UniCredit is pleased to work together with UPI" Mr. Ghizzoni said, "as it further strengthens the relationship between our two enterprises and our two nations. We intend to continue to provide high quality services to UnionPay cardholders so their trips to Italy are more convenient and more enjoyable."
Su Ning told guests at the ceremony that demand for cross-border payments was growing fast, since Chinese and Italian citizens often travel for business and tourism.
"UPI is working closely with our Italian partners to expand the use of UnionPay cards in Italy," Mr. Su said. "UniCredit has strong local influence, so the deep cooperation between UPI and UniCredit should not only benefit the cardholder by providing more high-quality and efficient services, but also deliver strong support to Sino-Italian trade and personnel exchanges between our two countries,"
CEO of UPI, Cai Jianbo, and General Manager of UniCredit, Roberto Nicastro, who signed the agreement on behalf of both parties, attended the ceremony, along with the General Consul of China to Milan, Mrs. Liao Juhua.
UPI has cooperated with partners across Europe to increase the acceptance of UnionPay cards. Currently its cards can be used at more than 70 percent of ATMs and over 100,000 merchants in cities throughout Italy.
Milan, 14 November 2013