-  UnionPay leads the global card scheme market, having issued 57.6% of the 
world's payment cards in circulation
-  Partnership aims to support Wirecard's growth in China
-  Scope includes expanding global acceptance of UnionPay and developing joint 
digital payment solutions 


    Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, 
has signed an MoU with UnionPay, the world's largest card scheme, to form a 
global strategic partnership. The agreement will support UnionPay's ongoing 
international expansion and Wirecard's growth in China and with Chinese 
businesses. 
    
    With over 7.59 billion cards issued under its brand, amounting to 57.6% of 
the world's payment cards in circulation according to the Nilson Report, 
UnionPay leads the global card scheme market, and is an association for China's 
banking card industry. The cooperation between Wirecard and UnionPay will focus 
on expanding the global acceptance of UnionPay as a digital payment method 
across all channels. In addition, the partnership will also launch a number of 
issuing projects, including corporate solutions such as payout products and SCP 
(Supplier and Commission Payments), and consumer-oriented products in the form 
of digital wallets for incoming tourists to China. 
"As the world's largest card scheme in terms of card issuance, UnionPay will be 
one of our key alliances in Asia," commented Georg von Waldenfels, EVP Group 
Business Development at Wirecard. "We're excited about the immense potential 
this partnership creates for both entities, and to deliver innovative solutions 
for current and future UnionPay cardholders globally. As a major tourist and 
business destination, China receives hundreds of millions of travelers every 
year, which means that the scope of our solutions will also address non-Chinese 
nationals and enable them to pay with UnionPay nationwide." 
    
    "Through our global strategic partnership with Wirecard, we plan to 
continue driving our international expansion forward," added Larry Wang, Vice 
President at UnionPay International. "We are proud to have an experienced 
partner in digital financial technology and global payments by our side to 
provide an even wider range of innovative solutions for UnionPay customers. We 
look forward to launching our partnership with Wirecard." 
    
    The initial stage of the partnership will focus on launching additional 
projects in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, where both partners already work 
together for several years. Especially point of sale and issuing solutions will 
merge with the existing online payment business. Additionally, a consumer 
solution for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing is being planned to 
take advantage of the large number of tourists who will visit the country. 
    
    About Wirecard: 
    Wirecard (GER:WDI) is one of the world's fastest growing digital platforms 
in the area of financial commerce. We provide both business customers and 
consumers with a constantly expanding ecosystem of real-time value-added 
services built around innovative digital payments by using an integrated B2B2C 
approach. This ecosystem concentrates on the areas payment & risk, retail & 
transaction banking, loyalty & couponing, data analytics & conversion rate 
enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, ePOS). Wirecard operates 
regulated financial institutions in several key markets and holds issuing and 
acquiring licenses from all major payment and card networks. Wirecard AG is 
listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DAX and TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060). 
Visit us on www.wirecard.com, follow us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook 
@wirecardgroup.
    
    About UnionPay: 
    China UnionPay (CUP) is a bankcard association founded in 2002 in Shanghai, 
China, with an aim to facilitate interbank transactions in the Chinese 
Mainland. So far, all POS and ATM terminals of all the banks in mainland China 
are connected to the UnionPay network. UnionPay International (UPI) is a 
subsidiary of CUP focused on the growth and support of UnionPay's global 
business. In partnership with more than 2,000 institutions worldwide, UPI has 
enabled card acceptance in 174 countries and regions with issuance in 56 
countries and regions. UPI provides 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.
    
    Wirecard contact:
    Wirecard AG 
    Iris Stöckl 
    VP Corp. Comm./IR 
    Tel.: +49 (0) 89-4424-1424
    Email: iris.stoeckl@wirecard.com 
    http://www.wirecard.de 
    ISIN DE0007472060 
    Reuters: WDI.GDE 
    Bloomberg: WDI GY
    
    UnionPay contact:
    UPIPR 
    Tel.: +86 (0) 21 2026 5843
    Email: UPIPR@unionpayintl.com 


    Source: Wirecard AG