Union pay and Chinese banks vs. visa

[hey]

I have read a few threads here about people nervous about VISA and others reporting their card activities. I thought, why not open a Chinese bank account (not in China), they have branches outside China. I think other banks offer Union Pay cards too so may not need to be at a Chinese bank, for example I seen a bank in the Seychelles that offers Union Pay cards.

Once on the Union Pay network they report to mainland China and not you the western countries correct? Unless your a mainlander that would be ok for use westerners. I am sure there are some mainlanders here that can offer some input.

 

[hiju]

So what you think is that the other card companies which are not Visa or MasterCard don't have obligations to report you?

 

[hey]

So what you think is that the other card companies which are not Visa or MasterCard don't have obligations to report you?

Given Union Pay is mainland Chinese, yes.

 

[Banker89]

Yes, there are now banks in lots of different countries offering Union Pay cards. They work like Visa and Mastercard as part of a network. Anyhow Visa and Mastercard will not report you, it is the issuing bank that would do that depending what country it is in. Visa and Mastercard are just the platforms to process transactions. But UnionPay are more flexible on card issuing, and often have lower fees and better exchange rates

 

[hey]

Yes, there are now banks in lots of different countries offering Union Pay cards. They work like Visa and Mastercard as part of a network. Anyhow Visa and Mastercard will not report you, it is the issuing bank that would do that depending what country it is in. Visa and Mastercard are just the platforms to process transactions. But UnionPay are more flexible on card issuing, and often have lower fees and better exchange rates

So its not the processor or network you have to worry about, its the country where your bank is? In that case you have to have a bank account in China....not a nice option...Thanks

 

[Banker89]

Well you got the first bit right. Reporting depends on the country where your bank is.

However you misunderstood the second part. There are Unionpay issuers in many countries so you would not have to have an account in China to get one.

 

[hiju]

Yes, there are now banks in lots of different countries offering Union Pay cards. They work like Visa and Mastercard as part of a network. Anyhow Visa and Mastercard will not report you, it is the issuing bank that would do that depending what country it is in. Visa and Mastercard are just the platforms to process transactions. But UnionPay are more flexible on card issuing, and often have lower fees and better exchange rates

Visa, MasterCard, Bank whatever, at the end of the day you need a bank to do transactions with these cards. So you get reported. How naive one has to be to think there are countries left that won't get reported.

Mention jut a few so we can do research on them.

 

[hey]

I don't think anyone is native more than others here as we are all trying to figure things out, hence the forum. Unless someone here works for Visa and knows the deal, I think we are all native in this subject.

But heres a list that can get you started. I am curious. China/North Korea/Cuba for sure doesn't share anything with the US or Europe.

China
Russia
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Cuba
Georgia
haha North Korea, maybe not after this Tuesday....

 

[negon]

Beside Russia, it is impossible to have a company in one of these countries and try to do business with a European or US citizens. Who is going to trust their money there. The only thing you can use these trashy countries to is to hide your money but still have to worry for how long your money actually is there before it is stolen!

 

[hey]

Beside Russia, it is impossible to have a company in one of these countries and try to do business with a European or US citizens. Who is going to trust their money there. The only thing you can use these trashy countries to is to hide your money but still have to worry for how long your money actually is there before it is stolen!

Thats true.

 

[Banker89]

Thats true.

If anyone is seriously interested in this topic, please do proper research into countries and banks that issue China Union Pay cards. I could do it but honestly I have work to do and my job is not promoting Union Pay. I personally have UnionPay cards issued by Credicorp in Panama and Hans Seng in Hong Kong. I do not care to do all the research but a simple Google search found this article: About 90 million UnionPay cards are issued outside mainland China 90 million cards is one hell of a lot of cards.

So, really, ignore it or take it seriously, UnionPay is a serious contender to Mastercard and Visa and is very interesting to the offshore market, if people choose to ignore facts and joke about it that is up to them. Reporting depends on the country of issue, not the network.

 

[hey]

If anyone is seriously interested in this topic, please do proper research into countries and banks that issue China Union Pay cards. I could do it but honestly I have work to do and my job is not promoting Union Pay. I personally have UnionPay cards issued by Credicorp in Panama and Hans Seng in Hong Kong. I do not care to do all the research but a simple Google search found this article: About 90 million UnionPay cards are issued outside mainland China 90 million cards is one hell of a lot of cards.

So, really, ignore it or take it seriously, UnionPay is a serious contender to Mastercard and Visa and is very interesting to the offshore market, if people choose to ignore facts and joke about it that is up to them. Reporting depends on the country of issue, not the network.

Agreed

 

[Grigorijs]

If I understood correct. UnionPay card can't be delivered to Norway.
Or I'm wrong?

 

[hey]

So, I can't edit posts so that is why I am making a new post....

This may or may not apply to anyone. Just throwing it out there for info. Maybe there are some guys in Asia on this forum who can benefit from this.

I have researched China in the past and they do not report to anybody but China of course. Getting a bank account in China is no problem but they are stupidly bureaucratic. Its almost impossible to close your account for any reason. They only speak Chinese unless your in Shanghai MAYBE you can find someone at a large bank who speaks English. This would only be good for personal account to spend. Setting up a business in China for what you guys are doing is super expensive and time consuming.

Setting up a bank account HAS to be in person. They don't require a residency permit but they may need more than a tourist permit. But if you want to go that route, getting a 10 year business visa is not a problem (for Americans). To do that just contact a company on Alibaba for an acceptance letter to get a visa. Visit once or twice then you can get longer visas.

Open a bank account at ICBC or Bank of China, get your debit card which is union pay. Then get WeChat, link your debit card. Using your Union pay all over the world is easy to do. You can also apply for a credit card but I don't know and I heard it hard. Wechat can be used in more and more places outside of China but still quite limited. But its growing and growing fast.

Side note, this is a great way to make money. Sell on the wechat platform and there is no tax to the Chinese authorities......at least not yet.

 

[hey]

If I understood correct. UnionPay card can't be delivered to Norway.
Or I'm wrong?

From China no. Try Seychelles. I can't find the bank now but I remember seeing a bank there that offered Union Pay cards.

Homepage_UnionPay International

This sites shows all the places where union pay is.

 

[Banker89]

If I understood correct. UnionPay card can't be delivered to Norway.
Or I'm wrong?

It depends entirely on the issuer. There is no fixed rule that covers all Union Pay cards. Just likje some Visa issuing banks might deliver cards to Norway, others not. Norway is not on any blacklists so most issuers that send cards worldwide by courier could deliver to Norway.