UnionPay Taps Chinese eCommerce For Cross-Border Payments

Cross-border commerce is one of the largest challenges for today’s eCommerce firms. While purchasers want greater choice – even if it means buying products from another country – foreign exchange and regulatory issues complicate the process for merchants and payment processors alike.

But with the expanding eCommerce market, especially in China, merchants and payment processors cannot afford to miss out on the cross-border commerce action. UnionPay International, China’s only domestic bank card firm, revealed a new plan to facilitate cross-border commerce with strategic partnerships.

According to an announcement, UnionPay will work with cross-border business DinoDirect and its B2B platform Osell to allow eCommerce websites to accept UnionPay cards issued outside of China. According to reports, the partnerships mark the first time UnionPay has worked with a Chinese eCommerce firm to facilitate cross-border sales and payment processing.

The collaborations are part of UnionPay’s broader plans to strengthen Chinese consumers making online purchases from overseas, as well as boost domestic suppliers selling their products abroad.

ECommerce platforms DinoDirect and Osell together cover more than 200 nations across the globe, reports say. The partnerships allow UnionPay’s consumer and business customers to use their card to pay for items purchased through these platforms even if that card is from another nation.

Already, UnionPay customers can use the company’s “Shop The World” platform to make international purchases. The next step for UnionPay is to introduce new payment cards in overseas markets that are designed especially for cross-border procurement from Chinese manufacturers.

UnionPay’s latest efforts have good timing. Recent reports estimate China’s eCommerce market to have hit $2 trillion last year, with online retail seeing the largest yearly growth, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.