UnionPay International (UPI) announced today the cooperation with the 
International Air Transport Association (IATA) to launch multiple UnionPay 
payment products on the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG). UnionPay cardholders can 
now make easy reservations via all airline distribution channels including 
travel agents and mobile apps of international airlines that accept UnionPay 
products.

As one of the most important organizations in the aviation industry, IATA 
represents over 290 member airlines, covering 82% of global air traffic. 
Currently, nearly 90 international airlines such as Emirates, Singapore 
Airlines and Air France have supported UnionPay cards. Through the global 
accessibility of the IFG, this cooperation is expected to extend UnionPay 
online payment services to more regional airlines and facilitate local business 
trips for frequent travelers outside Mainland China.

Larry Wang, Vice President of UnionPay International, said: "UPI continues to 
optimize the card-using experience across the airline industry to provide 
cardholders with more secure and convenient online ticket booking services and 
our cooperation with the IATA Financial Gateway better positions UnionPay cards 
for air ticket purchases. Ultimately, more acceptance across various fields 
offers an enhanced experience for our cardholders at home and abroad."

"IFG provides a cost-effective solution for airlines and travel suppliers to 
optimize their different sales payment processes. We're very pleased to welcome 
UnionPay International's suite of payment products to the IFG, which will 
provide more payment options for UnionPay cardholders," said Muhammad Albakri, 
IATA's Senior Vice President, Financial Settlement and Distribution Services.

IATA has integrated UnionPay online payment products into the IFG. All airlines 
can enable UnionPay acceptance for different online sales channels simply 
through an API call without additional system modification. The two parties 
will work together to support airlines in enabling UnionPay throughout all 
touchpoints on the passenger journey which will also further increase UnionPay 
card acceptance at more airline ticketing centers and in other offline use 
cases.

In recent years, UPI has cooperated with global acquirers and major gateways to 
step up optimizing online card acceptance. At present, UnionPay online payment 
has been enabled for more than 22 million merchants in over 200 countries and 
regions. In the first half of this year alone, more than 3,000 new major online 
merchants were enabled to take UnionPay cards. Popular online travel agencies, 
such as Agoda and Booking.com, now support UnionPay online payments, together 
with ten well-known hotel groups including Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental and 
Four Seasons. 

About IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for 
the world's airlines, representing some 290 airlines or 82% of total air 
traffic. IATA supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate 
industry policy on critical aviation issues. Visit www.iata.org for more 
information. 

About UnionPay International

UnionPay International (UPI) is focused on the growth and support of UnionPay's 
global business. In partnership with more than 2400 institutions worldwide, 
UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 180 countries and regions 
with issuance in 70 countries and regions. 

SOURCE:  UnionPay International