News Release : Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

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	ATM Alliance with China UnionPay(1/1)
	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation ATM Alliance with China UnionPay TOKYO, December 19, 2005 – Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC, President: Masayuki Oku) announced today that it has reached an understanding with China UnionPay Co., Ltd. [1] (CUP, CEO & President: Wan Jian Hua) on the basic framework for allowing Chinese visitors to Japan to use credit cards and cash cards stamped with the CUP logo issued by Chinese banks (“CUP cards”) to withdraw cash and check account balance at SMBC’s ATMs within next year. Further dialogues will be held between the parties to set the specifics of the ATM alliance. The aim of the alliance is to provide highly convenient settlement services to visitors from China and SMBC regards the alliance to be a significant step in the private sector initiative to support and promote the “Visit Japan Campaign” [2] , a public-private campaign to promote inbound tourism. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company, Limited (Head office in Minatoku, Tokyo , President: Michiyoshi Kuriyama) and CUP launched services on December on the use of CUP cards to pay for purchases at Sumitomo Mitsui Card member stores in Japan . Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and its group companies intend to continue to proactively collaborate with CUP in a wide range of marketing activities. ~~[1]~~ 1. CUP is an inter-bank settlement network operation company established under the initiative of The People Bank of China , the central bank of China . As of November 2005, 173 financial institutions in China , including Hong Kong and Macao , participate in the network, covering almost all cash cards issued in China – more than 900 million cards are stamped with the CUP logo. While creating a foundation for a credit card society (has about 370,000 members stores and an ATM network of about 80,000 units in China ), CUP is aiming to establish CUP as an international brand on par with VISA and MasterCard and has been proactively forging alliances with overseas banks and credit card companies. ~~[2]~~ 2. The Chinese economy has been growing at a remarkable pace and is expected to surge forward even more in advance of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing . The number of Chinese visitors to Japan has been rising more than 20% annually and totaled about 620,000 in 2004 and is expected to surpass one million in two to three years. Moreover, China has been designated as one of the pivotal countries in the Visit Japan Campaign.