[Kenya] Barclays, China UnionPay partner in automated card and payment services

Barclays Bank of Kenya has launched a partnership with China UnionPay, which will allow UnionPay cardholders to transact at Barclays’ ATMs and point-of-sale devices across the country.

The cardholders will be able to transact from the bank’s more than 220 ATMs and point-of-sale devices through its 4,200 merchants. UnionPay customers will also access the bank network in Africa. Barclays bank’s retail and business banking director Zahid Mustafa said the initiative will boost the economy, noting Kenya receives about 30,000 Chinese tourists annually.

Kenya also hosts more than 40,000 Chinese nationals, 400 state and privately owned organisations undertaking vast infrastructure and telecommunications projects.

“With China being the country’s largest trading partner, I am confident that we will continue to derive more benefits from this collaboration,” Mustafa said. “It is pertinent to provide financial solutions that meet the growing usage of cards.”

China UnionPay has over five billion cardholders globally.

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