Rakuten Card Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the Japanese online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc., on Thursday announced a partnership with China UnionPay that will enable China UnionPay cardholders to make purchases at Rakuten Card merchants.
China UnionPay is a global credit card brand that has issued more than 4 billion cards worldwide. Today China UnionPay cards are accepted in 140 countries and regions at some 18 million merchants.
As the first instalment of this partnership, China UnionPay cards will be accepted for payments made on Rakuten Global Market, the overseas sales service of Rakuten’s internet shopping mall Rakuten Ichiba, beginning 19 December 2013.
Now that the China UnionPay card is accepted on Rakuten Global Market, it will enable China UnionPay cardholders, who were unable to purchase Japanese merchandise before, to shop on Rakuten Global Market. About 60 merchants started accepting China UnionPay cards on Thursday, and this number will expand going forward.