中國銀聯經中國人民銀行批准的、由八十多家國內金融機構共同發起設立的股份制金融服務機構，註冊資本16.5億元人民幣。
公司於2002年3月26日成立，總部設在上海。 公司採用先進的信息技術與現代公司經營機制，建立和運營廣泛、高效的銀行卡跨行信息交換網路系統，制定統一的業務規範和技術標準，實現高效率的銀行卡跨行通用及業務的聯合發展，並推廣普及銀聯卡，積極改善受理環境，推動我國銀行卡產業的迅速發展，把銀聯品牌建設成為國際主要銀行卡品牌，實現"中國人走到哪裡，銀聯卡用到哪裡”。
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.
