YEREVAN, October 17. /ARКА/. UnionPay International (UPI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese payment firm UnionPay, has partnered with ACBA- CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK to enable card acceptance in Armenia for the first time.

Under the alliance, ACBA CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK will allow its merchants and ATMs to accept UnionPay cards within six months, covering airports, shopping centers, restaurants and hotels, to meet the payment demands of tourists visiting Armenia. It is anticipated that the overall acceptance rate of UnionPay cards in Armenia will exceed 50% within 2020, the Yerevan-based bank said in a press release.

"Today is a very significant day: we have concluded an agreement that will enable us to serve UnionPay cards, which is one of the most dynamically developing payment systems. In this context, Armenia will become a more convenient country for Chinese tourists. According to all forecasts, the number of tourists visiting Armenia will be growing from year to year, and this year we have already registered quite a serious growth, in particular, in the number of tourists from China," said Arsen Melkonyan, Deputy CEO of ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK.

He said ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK serves the largest number of payment systems in Armenia, and also expressed hope that the bank will be able to quickly ensure the servicing of UnionPay cards at all service points.

"The agreement is also of strategic importance to us. It is a great honor to be a partner of UnionPay in Armenia, and we are confident that we will register significant results very soon," Melkonyan said.
UnionPay chairman Shao Fujun said: “The acceptance of UnionPay cards in Armenia further improves UnionPay service capability in the region, and contributes to the interconnection and interworking of payment network along the Belt and Road. In the future, UnionPay will carry out more cooperation with institutions in Armenia in terms of card acceptance, card issuance, and innovative payment, to enhance business contacts between Armenia and Russia/Central Asia.”

Fujun also said that ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK has a large number of ATMs in Armenia and operates the largest number of payment systems, which will allow UnionPay cardholders to fully use their cards in Armenia.

"We are also pleased to announce that in the future, UnionPay mobile payments will also be available in Armenia," he said.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Vakhtang Abrahamyan said the arrival of UnionPay is a very important event, and, in fact, this is the beginning of the long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation.

"We hope that thanks to our partners we will also see the arrival of new technologies. I am sure that this will contribute to the variety of financial services to benefit ultimately the customers," he said.
Abrahamyan also expressed confidence that this will contribute to healthy competition in the market, and the presence of such large international players gives confidence that the arrival of the best international experience in Armenia is ensured.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Armenia Tian Erlun, in turn, expressed confidence that UnionPay’s arrival in the country will bring more Chinese tourists to Armenia.

"I believe that UnionPay’s arrival in Armenia will also create significant conditions for the development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries," he said.

UnionPay International (UPI) is a subsidiary of China UnionPay. UPI cards are accepted in about 177 countries. Fifty-five of them also issue UnionPay cards.

ACBA was established in 1996 as part of EU’s TACIS program. As a result of a long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation between ACBA Bank and the French Credit Agricole the latter became the biggest shareholder of ACBA in 2006, September. ACBA was restructured, becoming a closed joint stock company and was renamed ACBA - CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK.-0-