Union Pay may be coming to the UK/EU

Banking and money
#1

Another fintech crypto provider this time Amon Tech

“https://amon.tech/”

You have several crypto providers offering Debit cards, but they plan to issue “Union Pay”, it may become the first UK UPI (Union Pay International) card issuer for the United Kindom.

According to the UPI website, union pay is accepted in 40% of UK retail outlets. however, it may attract those businesses who purchase supplies from China. You could argue it was a similar position that Amex was in going back 30 years back with only a few UK retail outlets accepting Amex.

UPI to my knowledge also has dealings with Huawei and could allow Huawei Pay come to the UK via the Amon offering, keep in mind US sanctions restricts US finance companies dealing with Chinese institutions.

#2

Interesting to see, I actually hadn’t realised UnionPay was accepted much outside of China tbh.

Still I’m not sure why a customer would go with a card with only 40% acceptance unless their was significant cashback like Amex.

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#3

You can still find UnionPay cards around in the U.K. but you have to go apply in branch in a Chinese bank that only have offices in London iirc, it’s something like ICCB or whatever

But I’ll pick it up, because my Chinese isn’t good enough to go find a UnionPay card in fiat

#4

It was ICBC (I think it stands for International Commercial Bank of China). They were the only ones I knew of offering UnionPay anyway - after being curious about whether any bank here did issue them, I looked it up once.

However, according to their website, even they may not issue UnionPay cards any more. (see https://www.icbclondon.com/ICBC/海外分行/工银伦敦网站/en/ProductsServices/Personalbanking/DebitCard/)

I have applied for a card from Amon, just for curiosity after seeing this thread, and it may come in useful if I’m ever travelling in China. I’ll let you know if it arrives!

First impressions so far are that they were quick to confirm my ID, although the app does appear as a little bit flaky overall (similar to Zeux) and their verification emails went straight to my Spam folder. Once verified and set up, though, it all seems to be working - although I’ve not paid any money in to the account yet.

#5

Mostly anywhere in Asia, even

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#6

Sticpay issue a Union Pay card. I haven’t found many UK merchants that accept it so far…

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#7

I have just looked them up, their fees are very unattractive. Amon’s card seems to have virtually no fees, which is nice!

I don’t actually need a UnionPay card, but as @Recchan says, it would come in handy in Asia - and I like to be prepared wherever I go (not that I’m even planning a trip to Asia at the moment).

I’m perfectly willing to admit that it’s more my banking geekery, than genuine requirement, that makes me want a UnionPay card to go with my Amex, Visa and Mastercards.

I think I’m right in saying that UnionPay have a cross-acceptance agreement with Discover in the US, so I will effectively have one of those as well. I can’t imagine many occasions where I could find myself in a position where none of those cards would be accepted, short of a shop only accepting the national payment scheme (like Girocard in Germany or Elo Brazil) or wanting Maestro/V-Pay in parts of Europe where Visa and Mastercard aren’t common. I hear that need is gradually lessening, but I would still like to have those to add to my collection - just for pulling out when all hope is lost with my other cards!