AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GlobalCollect, an Ingenico Group company, and UnionPay International, a subsidiary of the fast growing global payment network China UnionPay, today unveiled a worldwide partnership that sees GlobalCollect become a worldwide acquirer for the UnionPay network. UnionPay is the number one international card brand in the world measured by the number of cards issued.

With the agreement, GlobalCollect can now connect its client base of leading, international eCommerce companies with the holders of 4.5 billion UnionPay cards, creating access to rapidly growing eCommerce markets across Asia and beyond.

Merchants offering their consumers to pay with UnionPay cards through GlobalCollect now benefit from faster boarding and implementation, full service processing and consolidated reporting. GlobalCollect processes UnionPay payments in over 90 authorization currencies worldwide.

“eCommerce is booming in China and across Asia Pacific, with Chinese consumers in particular increasingly shopping for international brands. This is driving a boom in cross-border commerce to China and creates huge opportunities for GlobalCollect merchants,” said Mark Patrick, General Manager Asia Pacific at GlobalCollect. “GlobalCollect represents the top tier of international eCommerce merchants, and with this partnership in place, we can now help these merchants expand their regional footprint and connect with millions of consumers from China and beyond.”

According to “The Global Impact of Chinese e-Commerce”, online cross-border shoppers (known as "hai tao" in China) are expected to spend $22.68 billion by 2014, an increase of more than 80% from 2013. Popular products among the hai tao include luxury items such as cosmetics, clothing and perfume. Other rapidly growing sectors of the digital economy include travel, with digital travel sales in China expected to increase by 34.2% year over year to $8.72 billion in 2014, and gaming, with online game revenue in China forecasted to surpass $16.3 billion in 2014 and then exceed $32.5 billion in 2017.

“Chinese consumers are increasingly participating in the global online marketplace, as evidenced by the rapid growth in the number of cross-border transactions that UnionPay International enables,” said Hong Tao, General Manager, Sales and Support Department at UnionPay International. “GlobalCollect represents some of the world’s premier online merchants in retail, travel and digital goods, and our partnership with GlobalCollect further expands the range of high quality, international products and services that are available to our cardholders.”

About GlobalCollect

GlobalCollect, an Ingenico Group company, is the world’s most knowledgeable global Payment Service Provider, processing international eCommerce payments for more than 600 of the world’s most recognized eCommerce brands in the digital goods and services, travel, retail and video gaming industries, among many others.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, GlobalCollect is a 100% subsidiary of Ingenico Group and has regional offices in North America, Asia Pacific, South America and the EU focused on bringing local presence with global reach and services to our clients. For more information please visit: http://www.globalcollect.com

About UnionPay International

UnionPay International (UPI) is a subsidiary of China UnionPay focused on the growth and support of UnionPay’s global business. In partnership with more than 300 institutions worldwide, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in over 140 countries with issuance in more than 30 countries. UnionPay International provides high quality, cost effective and secure cross-border payment services to the world’s largest cardholder base and ensures convenient local services to a growing number of global UnionPay cardholders and merchants. For more information, please visit www.unionpayintl.com