Pecunpay Becomes First Spanish Issuer of UnionPay Cards

Spanish FinTech Pecunpay and global payments company UnionPay have signed a strategic partnership to make Pecunpay the first Spanish issuer of UnionPay cards, according to a Monday (Dec. 13) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

The agreement between the companies covers commercial products, consumer and corporate cards, and mobile payment systems. It brings together their technological, marketing and financial resources to support the launch of UnionPay’s products in Spain today and other countries in the future, the release stated.

“This is an important step for Pecunpay, as it opens the door to a vast and growing market with excellent potential,” said Pecunpay CEO Antonio García Cruz in the release. “We will be able to offer our customers in Spain and in other key markets an innovative payment system with increasing acceptance all over the world.”

UnionPay is accepted by more than 4 million merchants in almost 40 countries and regions in Europe, covering more than 70% of merchants across the continent that accept cards. All local ATMs and 92% of merchants that accept cards include UnionPay among their payment options, according to the release.

“UnionPay International is accelerating the localization of our business in Europe by seeking opportunities to issue cards locally,” said UnionPay International Europe Branch Deputy Head Shengliang Yang in the release. “We are delighted to have agreed [to] this partnership with Pecunpay and look forward to announcing similar card issuance with other European institutions in due course.”

Last month, UnionPay reached an agreement with European payment services provider Nets that allows UnionPay to expand its contactless acceptance throughout the Nordic region to more than 100,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway and advance the acceptance of UnionPay to more than 6,000 ATMs in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Read more: Unionpay International Teams up With Payment Services Provider Nets

More than 1.5 million UnionPay cardholders visited the region in 2019. UnionPay’s global network has expanded to 180 countries and regions with issuance in 70 countries and regions.