China UnionPay issues its first credit card in Africa

Chinese based financial institution and card firm China UnionPay, in an effort to expand its global footprint has issued its first credit in Africa.

The announcement was made earlier today by China UnionPay on its international distribution arm UnionPay International, the entity which issued the card itself.

China UnionPay entered a partnership with Mauritius based financial firm Cim Finance on the new card issuing endeavor. The joint partnership is said to consist of 3 types of payment cards being issued, according to a statement made earlier by UnionPay.

The African China UnionPay cards are accepted in 140 countries including China and Mauritius and will not include transaction fees. China UnionPay’s first foray into Africa was in August of last year when the bankcard network operator began issuing local debit cards. UnionPay debit cards were the most used payment cards in 2013.

In another report China UnionPay is rumored to the provider of Russia’s upcoming national payment network.