(Yicai Global) April 22 -- China UnionPay, the world's biggest payment card provider, has expanded its market share by issuing a total of 7.6 billion bank cards worldwide by the end of last year. 

The number of UnionPay bank cards rose 13 percent, or 900 million, in a year ended December 2017, the Shanghai-headquartered firm said in a statement today. 

The company's cards can be used in 174 countries and regions, covering more than 53.7 million shops and 2.9 million automated teller machines. Its domestic network is improving with the development of mobile payment and a growing number of value-added services. 

The firm has cooperated with overseas partners to improve the user experience with QR codes. Chinese payment platforms usually use these matrix barcodes across the board whereas the use of these codes has not picked up as fast abroad. 

UnionPay has also teamed up with Chinese non-banking partners to launch regional versions of mobile wallets in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

Editor: Emmi Laine