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Bank card spending hit record high
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-09 20:47
Chinese bank card holders traveling throughout the country between October 1
and 7, the country's National Day "Golden Week," spent 1.56 billion yuan (about
190 million dollars) in inter-bank card transactions, 2.7 times that of a year
earlier.
The figure, which only includes transactions conducted outside the places
where the cards were issued, involved 6.81 million deals during the week-long
holiday, said China UnionPay Co. (CUP), which operates China's inter-bank card
networking business.
Bank cards carrying a UnionPay logo, including those issued by the country's
major banks, may be used for payment or withdrawing cash from ATMs (automatic
teller machine) owned by other member banks in and outside places of residence
within China.
Since the beginning of this year, China UnionPay's network has expanded from
the country's bigger cities to county-level cities, from the mainland to Hong
Kong and Macao.
Chinese residents used to carry large sums of cash going shopping in as late
as 1990s due to a lack of bank card services. When the cards were first issued,
they could only be used to withdraw cash from the ATMs owned by the issuing
bank.
During the seven-day holiday ending Thursday, travelers from the Chinese
mainland spent 114 million HK dollars in about 80,000 deals in Hong Kong using
UnionPay cards. In Macao, mainland travelers spent 55.3 million Patacas, with
transactions via POS ( point of sales) machines accounting for 98.9 percent of
the figure, China UnionPay said.
China has been encouraging residents to travel to Hong Kong and Macao as part
of its effort to spur consumption and boost the economies of the two special
administrative districts.
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