LONG BEACH, N.Y. and SHANGHAI, China, March 5, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Planet Payment, Inc. (LSE:PPT) (LSE:PPTR) (OTCBB:PLPM), a leading multi-currency payment and data processor, and China UnionPay, a leading bankcard association, announced Planet Payment's registration as a worldwide third party service provider of China UnionPay. Through this registration, Planet Payment can provide processing support for China UnionPay's credit and debit cards in both card present and card-not-present environments directly to banks and acquirers on a worldwide basis.
Launched in 2002, China UnionPay has become one of the largest card brands in the world with over 2.8 billion cards issued worldwide. With the agreement announced today, Planet Payment is adding support of China UnionPay to its transaction platform, providing acquirers and their merchants with an efficient way to accept UnionPay credit and PIN debit card transactions for all merchant market segments, including eCommerce, Retail, Restaurant and Hospitality. Now financial institutions located in any country where Planet Payment operates can sign an acquiring agreement with UnionPay and utilize Planet Payment for connectivity to UnionPay. The targeted launch date for the Planet Payment China UnionPay service for the hospitality vertical is in the second quarter of 2012.
In addition, Planet Payment will be enhancing iPay, the Company's e-commerce payment gateway, to include support for China UnionPay's new UnionPay Online Payment (UPOP) service. UPOP provides merchants with the facility to authenticate and process UnionPay debit cards online, providing merchants with better access to the burgeoning Chinese e-commerce space which is projected to overtake the United States as the largest e-commerce market by 2015. The targeted launch date for the UPOP service is in the second quarter of 2012.
"China UnionPay is one of the world's leading bankcard schemes," said Philip D. Beck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Planet Payment. "With this new agreement, our acquirer or processor customers globally can accept UnionPay credit and PIN debit cards, enabling merchants to sell more goods and services to Chinese cardholders and tapping into one of the largest markets for potential new customers. Also, we are delighted to be one of the first payment gateways to support UPOP which provides merchants and Chinese consumers with an easier way to transact online."
About Planet Payment
Planet Payment is a leading provider of international payment processing and multi-currency processing services. We provide our services in 18 countries and territories across the Asia Pacific region, North America, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, primarily through our more than 48 acquiring bank and processor customers. Our point-of-sale and e-commerce services help merchants sell more goods and services to consumers, and are integrated within the payment card transaction flow enabling our acquiring customers to process and reconcile payment transactions in multiple currencies, geographies and channels.
Planet Payment is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Bermuda, Delaware, Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Shanghai and Singapore. Visit www.planetpayment.com for more information on the Company and its services. For up-to-date information follow Planet Payment on Twitter at @PlanetPayment or join Planet Payment's page on Facebook.
About China UnionPay
As the bankcard association, China UnionPay operates the national inter-bank clearing and settlement system, develops the worldwide UnionPay Card acceptance network, promotes the issuance and usage of the UnionPay Card as well as other innovative payment solutions, so as to provide quality, efficient and safe payment services to cardholders. To date, the total number of the UnionPay Card issued both at home and abroad has exceeded 2.8 billion. The UnionPay network has been extended to all the cities and rural areas in China. In addition, China UnionPay has enabled the UnionPay Card's acceptance in over 125 countries and regions through extensive cooperation with about 400 institutions around the world. Additional information may be found at: www.unionpay.com.