(Yicai Global) Nov. 24 -- UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay Co., signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Westpac Banking Corp. [NZE:WBC] to extend its card acceptance for offline merchants, China News reported yesterday.

The pair's cooperation has resulted in nearly 5,000 merchants in the country now accepting UnionPay card, which will increase to 21,000 merchants by the end of next year.

The bank has introduced UnionPay card acceptance for all its ATMs and nearly 1,300 online merchants so far. Westpac provides financial services in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The bank is accelerating the UnionPay card acceptance in the market, with online UnionPay merchants now including Hobbiton, Queenstown Bungy Jumping, Maori Village, Rotorua Hot Springs and ACE Rental Cars.

In the first half of this year, nearly 400,000 Chinese tourists traveled to New Zealand, close to the total number of last year. At present, 85 percent of ATMs and about 40,000 merchants there support the use of UnionPay cards, and Immigration New Zealand supports online payment of visa fees via UnionPay cards through its official website.

Auckland University and other universities also allow cross-border payment of tuition fees via UnionPay cards through their websites.