On February 2, 2026, UnionPay International and Visa jointly announced in Shanghai that the two parties had reached a strategic cooperation in cross-border remittances.
This move undoubtedly sets a new benchmark for building an open, inclusive, efficient and secure global cross-border payment ecosystem.
Wang Lixin, CEO of UnionPay International, and Luba Goldberg, Visa’s global senior vice president and head of cash flow business products, attended this important event.
According to the cooperation agreement, both parties will fully combine the usage habits and scenario needs of users in different markets to jointly create a diverse and convenient cross-border remittance service system.
Visa’s banks, professional remittance companies and other member institutions will simultaneously launch UnionPay cross-border remittance services through mobile banking APPs, official websites, offline outlets and other channels to adapt to the digital payment needs of global users.
This means that global users will have more choices and a more convenient experience when making cross-border remittances.
The core of this cooperation lies in the complementary advantages of the resources of both parties.
Visa has an extensive global partner network and mature cross-border remittance service capabilities. Its Visa Direct product has outstanding technical advantages in the field of cross-border remittances.
UnionPay has built a solid domestic collection service system by virtue of its deep cooperation foundation with domestic banks and its special services such as direct RMB payment, pre-locked exchange rate, no additional handling fees, and fast payment.
The cooperation between the two parties will give full play to these advantages and provide users with better services.
Wang Lixin, CEO of UnionPay International, said that cross-border remittances are an important link between personal life, economy and finance at home and abroad, and are also an important business segment in UnionPay’s international strategic layout.
Currently, UnionPay has established in-depth cooperative relationships with approximately 80 domestic banks.
This cooperation with Visa is not only a precise connection of the superior resources of both parties, but also a positive response to the development trend of digitalization and convenience of cross-border remittances.
The cooperation will provide more overseas users with low-cost, efficient and reliable cross-border remittance services, bring business growth to domestic and foreign partners, and help build a global payment service ecosystem with wider coverage, collaboration and efficiency.
Luba Goldberg, Visa’s global senior vice president and head of capital flow business products, said that the cooperation between the two parties will further expand the global capital flow network and better support inward remittances and B2C payment services in the Chinese market.
By integrating Visa’s global network capabilities, as well as UnionPay’s global remittance platform and China’s domestic card issuance foundation, it will provide global consumers and businesses with a smoother, safer and more transparent payment method, and help fund remittances to China, a major global remittance destination.
This cooperation demonstrates the mutual commitment of both parties in payment innovation and service reliability, and will also lay the foundation for building an open and interconnected global payment ecosystem.
In recent years, the global cross-border remittance market has continued to expand, with the Asia-Pacific region becoming the core growth pole.
UnionPay’s cross-border remittance business has covered 57 countries and regions around the world, and has established cooperation with more than 60 overseas banks and international mainstream remittance institutions.
In the future, UnionPay will adhere to the development vision of “mutual trust, interconnection, and joint value creation” and continue to work with domestic and foreign partners such as Visa to build an open, win-win, value-sharing global payment network under the new “Four-Party Model” to help the country open up to the outside world at a high level.
