Riverwoods, Illinois and Shanghai, China - December
5, 2005 – A simple swipe of a card today opened
a new era of commerce between U.S. merchants and
the growing number of Chinese travelers to the
U.S., as part of a landmark alliance between China
UnionPay and Discover Financial Services.
During a ceremony this morning at the famous
Macy's Herald Square in New York City, Liu Tinghuan,
Chairman of China UnionPay, and Su Ning, Deputy
Governor of the People's Bank of China, purchased
a necktie with a card issued in China marking
the first-ever acceptance of a China UnionPay
bankcard in the U.S. This transaction today marks
the beginning of acceptance of China UnionPay
cards on the PULSE network. It was also the first
milestone resulting from a strategic agreement
between China UnionPay, China's only national
bankcard payment network, and Discover Financial
Services LLC, a business unit of Morgan Stanley
(NYSE:MWD) and owner of the Discover
®
Network and the PULSE
® ATM/debit network.
Wan Jianhua, President and CEO of China
UnionPay, said: “It is our objective to provide
convenient and safe payment service to CUP cardholders
when they travel abroad. The acceptance of CUP
cards in the U.S. is a starting point from which
both parties will complement each other and develop
together in concert to raise the strategic cooperation
to a new level.”
David Nelms, Chairman
and CEO of Discover Financial Services, said:
“This strategic alliance between China UnionPay
and Discover Financial Services expands the links
between the growing Chinese consumer economy and
the U.S. market. It will create new opportunities
for merchants, financial institutions and other
ATM owners by enabling them to serve Chinese travelers
– the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. tourism
market. We look forward to next year, when we
expect Discover Network cardholders will be able
to use their cards at China UnionPay locations
throughout China.”
“This agreement opens
the door for merchants on the PULSE network to
the purchasing power of Chinese tourists,” said
Stan Paur, President and CEO of PULSE. “More than
360,000 Chinese travelers will visit the U.S.
in 2005, with double-digit growth rates projected
ahead. PULSE's financial institution participants
and other ATM operators can expect to benefit
from additional network volume as China UnionPay
cardholders conduct transactions at U.S. ATMs
and point-of-sale terminals.”
Expansion
of Groundbreaking China UnionPay/Discover Alliance
Anticipated Acceptance of China
UnionPay cards on the PULSE network throughout
the U.S. marks the first phase of a long-term
agreement signed in May 2005 by the companies.
The next step will be to complete arrangements
for Discover Network cards to be accepted at China
UnionPay's network of more than 365,000 merchant
locations and 80,000 ATMs in China. Both companies
are continuing to work toward acceptance of China
UnionPay cards at Discover Network's more than
4 million merchant and cash access locations in
North America.
Discover Network cards
are already accepted in other regions popular
with U.S. tourists, such as the Caribbean, Mexico
and Canada, and the alliance with China UnionPay
will add another important region of the world
that is rapidly growing in popularity with travelers.
# # #
About China UnionPay
China UnionPay Co., Ltd. (CUP) is the only
national bankcard payment network in China, with
more than 800 million bankcards issued on the
CUP network. Subsequent to CUP card acceptance
in Hong Kong and Macau beginning in 2004, CUP
cards gained acceptance in Singapore, Korea, Thailand,
Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Germany, Japan
and France in 2005, and soon will be accepted
in Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Approved
by the State Council and licensed by the People's
Bank of China, CUP is a shareholding financial
service institution established through capital
contributions by more than 80 domestic financial
institutions. CUP has registered capital of RMB1.65
billion and, as of today, a total of 172 member
banks. For more information, visit
www.chinaunionpay.com/englishversion.
About Discover Financial Services
Discover Financial Services LLC, a business
unit of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MWD), operates the
Discover
® Card with more than 50 million
cardmembers, the Discover Network with more than
4 million merchant and cash access locations and
the PULSE ATM/debit network which serves more
than 4,100 financial institutions and includes
more than 3.2 million merchant terminals and 250,000
ATMs. For more information, visit
www.discovercard.com,
www.discovernetwork.com
or
www.pulse-eft.com.
CONTACTS:
Jennifer Kang-Born
Discover Financial Services
224-405-2347
Jeffrey X. Huang
China UnionPay
86-21-61006508