TOKYO, December 19th, 2013 –Rakuten Card Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Rakuten Inc. today announced a partnership with China UnionPay that will enable China UnionPay cardholders to make purchases at Rakuten Card merchants.
As the first installment 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 December 19, 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 will begin accepting China UnionPay cards on December 19, and this number will expand going forward.
In addition, Rakuten is also considering accepting China UnionPay cards at Rakuten Ichiba merchants, and other Rakuten Card merchants sometime in spring 2014 or later.
Rakuten launched the Rakuten Global Market overseas sales service of Rakuten Ichiba in 2008, and since then about 7,000 of Rakuten Ichiba’s 42,000 merchants have begun selling merchandise to buyers in more than 200 countries around the world. This merchandise has mainly included fashion, accessories, and toys. 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.
On December 19, a special sales promotion campaign will be initiated to mark the launch of China UnionPay card services on Rakuten Global Market, in which China UnionPay cardholders will receive 10 times the Rakuten Super Points for their purchases.