Where the Chinese used their credit cards for New Year

January 3, 2018

SHANGHAI - During the 2018 New Year's holiday (December 30, 2017 to January 1, 2018), the total transaction volume of UnionPay reached a new record high of 700.8 billion yuan, growing by 36.8% compared to the 2017 New Year holiday period.

UnionPay said shopping is still the major part of customer spending, growing 41.9% year-on-year as many merchants were offering year-end promotions - 83% of the total purchasing was at supermarkets, general merchandise and household appliance merchants.

The transaction volume of UnionPay cards at food and beverage merchants in China grew by 70% on-year for the comparable period.

The transaction volume of public transport including aviation, railway and expressway was up 43.6%, while fuel purchases grew by 48.1% as more people went on self-driving tours.

UnionPay said it was worth noting that the launch of a unified APP for China's banking industry, "Mobile QuickPass", as well as year-end special offers provided by UnionPay, boosted the use of UnionPay mobile payments, including UnionPay QR code and UnionPay contactless QuickPass, with the transaction number and volume increasing 3.5 times and 2.5 times respectively, compared to the last Dragon Boat Festival.

More Chinese tourists were using UnionPay cards when travelling abroad. UnionPay said emerging tourist destinations such as India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Russia, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic had become the "new favorites" of Chinese tourists, with the transaction volume of UnionPay cards for catering, accommodation, entertainment, tourist attractions and travel booking merchants all growing remarkably.

Noting greater acceptance of the UnionPay mobile QuickPass facility outside mainland China, UnionPay said the transaction volume of mobile payments through its merchants in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia had also grown remarkably.  www.en.unionpay.com (ATI).