Azerbaijan starts accepting UnionPay cards

UnionPay International has joined forces with International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) and financial service provider MilliKart, enabling UnionPay card acceptance in Azerbaijan.

As part of the deal, all merchants and ATMs under the two institutions will start accepting Unionpay cards by the end of 2015, allowing UnionPay cards to be accepted by 50% of ATMs and 30% of POS terminals in Azerbaijan. Through the cooperation with the two institutions, UnionPay International is committed to meeting the card-using demands of UnionPay cardholders who travel to Azerbaijan, exploring cooperation on online payment and card issuance.

Azerbaijan maintains close trade, investment and legal cooperation with neighboring Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The UnionPay card acceptance environment in Central Asia has been improving. In Kazakhstan, more than 50% of ATMs and 20% of POS terminals accept UnionPay cards; in markets including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, UnionPay cardholders can use their cards at merchants labeled with the UnionPay logo.

Currently, UnionPay cards can be used in over 140 countries and regions. UnionPay cards also bring cardholders emergency cash assistance service, cross-border remittance, VIP lounge for UnionPay Platinum cards and tax refund for using the cards overseas.