Bangladesh believes in the financial system of the Chinese. The Bangladesh Eastern Bank Limited has become the country's second-largest commercial bank to issue the UnionPay card of China.
In the presence of local and foreign visitors, including Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming, a ceremony to introduce the UnionPay credit card took place here on Sunday night.
According to Ashutosh Agrawal of UnionPay International, UnionPay QuickPass Credit Card is a contactless payment system that allows cardholders to make quick and easy tap-and-go payments.
Global Reach
About 20 million merchants in 41 countries and regions, including 7,000 terminals in Bangladesh, have been approved by UnionPay QuickPass as of today.
"This is a landmark moment for us to be able to bring to Bangladesh China's largest card brand," said Ali Reza Iftekhar, chief executive officer of Eastern Bank.
He said that Bangladesh is China's very close neighbor and is geo-strategically located between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
According to Iftekhar, they thought that UnionPay credit card would be a great support for the growing business relationship with China and other southeast Asian countries where this card is widely accepted.
A Milestone
Chinese Ambassador Li said that the launch of EBL's UnionPay credit card together with UnionPay International marks another milestone in the growth of China-Bangladesh financial cooperation.
UnionPay is one of the world's most widely recognized payment network, with acceptance of cards in more than 174 countries and regions, he said.
UnionPay's successful issuance of a credit card would certainly encourage international transactions, he added.
Li said in recent years, China and Bangladesh have been rising ever closer in strategic and commercial cooperation. Last year, their trade partnership hit the US$18.7 billion mark, 16.8 percent higher compared to the previous year.
Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) joined hands with UnionPay International in November last year to launch for the first time in Bangladesh debit and credit cards together with QR Code payment, e,-wallet and digital card services.
World's Largest
The Chinese financial services company, headquartered in Shanghai, China, is globally active. In mainland China, it offers various types of financial and banking card services.
Founded in March 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry that operates under the approval of the People's Bank of China. It is also the only interbank network in China that connects all of China's banks' automatic teller machines. It is the world's largest mobile and electronic payment card processing company.
