union pay 是中国银联的英文名称，

中国银联经中国人民银行批准的、由八十多家国内金融机构共同发起设立的股份制金融服务机构，注册资本16.5亿元人民币。

公司于2002年3月26日成立，总部设在上海。 公司采用先进的信息技术与现代公司经营机制，建立和运营广泛、高效的银行卡跨行信息交换网络系统，制定统一的业务规范和技术标准，实现高效率的银行卡跨行通用及业务的联合发展，并推广普及银联卡，积极改善受理环境，推动我国银行卡产业的迅速发展，把银联品牌建设成为国际主要银行卡品牌，实现"中国人走到哪里，银联卡用到哪里”。

Brief Introduction of China Unionpay

Headquartered in Shanghai, China Unionpay (hereinafter abbreviated as “CUP”), is a national bankcard association established in March 2002 and with the approval of the State Council and the People’s Bank of China. It operates the unified nationwide inter-bank bankcard transaction settlement system, providing participants in bankcard sector with basic bankcard services such as inter-bank information switching, settlement data processing, standards & regulations, risk prevention, etc. CUP commits itself to providing people with high-quality, safe and efficient bankcard services, and maintaining the security of Chinese national financial information.

Since its establishment, CUP has been consistently fulfilling industrial and social responsibilities to meet card usage demand of Chinese people. With CUP’s endeavors, China has become one of countries with the rapidest growth and the greatest potential in bankcard industry. As of the end of 2007, over 150 CUP domestic member banks issued more than 1.5 billion bankcards, among which 0.54 billion were CUP standard cards. The number of domestic CUP merchants totaled 740 thousand with 1180 thousand POS terminals, and ATMs reached 120 thousand, increased by 3.9, 4 and 2.5 times respectively over the end of 2001 (prior to CUP’s establishment). Bankcards are well accepted at merchants in medium and large cities , and the number of merchants accepting bankcards in small cities also increased rapidly. Furthermore, CUP cards start to be accepted in 26 countries and regions frequently visited by Chinese people. Currently, over 14 million inter-bank transactions are processed daily with a transaction volume over RMB 10 billion. CUP has made significant achievements in interoperability, brand building and internationalization, and effectively promoted rapid and sound development of Chinese bankcard industry.