Woolworths now accepts UnionPay debit and credit cards
Chinese visitors, students and residents can now use UnionPay to make purchases at Woolworths in Australia.
Chinese visitors and residents will have more ways to pay in Australia following an alliance formed between Woolworths and UnionPay this week. Woolworths announced that it now accepts UnionPay credit and debit cards at its 961 supermarkets around Australia. There are also plans to roll out UnionPay card acceptance to other Woolworths Group brands including Dan Murphy’s and Big W in the near future.
As well as the standard EMV chip payments, UnionPay cardholders can also use QuickPass contactless payments to tap and go with their smartphone at the checkout. As long as you’ve registered your UnionPay account on your phone, you can use it to swipe and pay at any contactless terminal in Woolworths. Outside of China, Australia has the largest number of point of sale terminals accepting the mobile QuickPass payment method. First introduced in Australia in June 2015, there are now more than 270,000 QuickPass POS terminals around the country.
This partnership has expanded UnionPay’s already vast international presence. With more than 6 billion cards being used around the world, Union Pay is one of the world’s largest international card schemes. Its use is widespread too and is accepted in 160 countries and regions, covering 36 million merchants and over 2 million ATMs around the world.
The union between Woolworths and UnionPay has come at an especially convenient time, though. Last year, the number of Chinese visitors in Australia reached record heights of 1.1 million. Woolworths’ partnership with UnionPay International aims to make it easier for UnionPay cardholders to make purchases in Australia as Chinese tourism continues to grow.
While UnionPay is accepted by a number of merchants in Australia including Myer, David Jones and Westfield, this new partnership has made Woolworths the largest retailer to allow the use UnionPay cards down under.
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