Visa has announced a partnership with payment services company UnionPay International (UPI) to enable cross-border money movement into the Chinese mainland.

The new service will allow users to send cross-border remittances and business-to-consumer payments to more than 95 per cent of UnionPay debit card holders in China through Visa’s push payment platform Visa Direct.

Through the partnership, Visa said it will be able to offer a secure and transparent way for consumers and businesses worldwide to send money into the Chinese mainland, one of the world’s largest remittance destinations.

Visa explained that the new service will enable a broad set of cross border use cases, including creator and freelancer payouts, contractor disbursements, reimbursements, and family remittances.

As platforms, marketplaces and employers operate without borders, Visa said these payments and payouts increasingly require the ability to reliably reach people using global scale and real time delivery.

The company added that cross border remittances enable people to connect personal life, economic activity, and financial needs across borders.

The service builds on the trend of digitisation and convenience used in global cross-border remittances.

“Global business now moves at internet speed, but money hasn’t always kept pace,” said Vira Platonova, global head of Visa Direct. “By expanding Visa Direct’s reach through UnionPay International, we’re shrinking the world again – not through tests or theory, but through real, critical infrastructure operating at massive scale, speed and reliability.”

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