Scifience

Quick update:

Managed to get this linked with Alipay, but only because my friend linked it to my account manually as though it was HK-issued (which makes it process through CUP network rather than direct-to-bank link). He confirmed there isn't any standard, supported way to add US or other foreign-issued UnionPay cards, with the exception of some HK cards. Successful purchase on Taobao.

WeChat is a no-go, as Tencent have never built support for processing directly through CUP network.

10010 and 12306 both say the card number is invalid.

Successfully linked with my CN ICBC accounts, though for whatever reason the US site now appears entirely in Chinese... Appears that I can use China-based USD balances to pay the US UnionPay bill, but not RMB. Still can't find a way to convert RMB->USD balances or vice-versa without showing up in person; CMB has ICBC beat here.

TerryK

Thanks for the update.^

Can an average user, without friends in HK, link Alipay to US Unionpay card? I am not quite clear on what is required.

Scifience

At this point, the answer unfortunately appears to be no. Accomplishing this took intervention by a friend who is an engineer at Alipay. Hopefully, since their platform clearly does technically support it, they'll enable support for foreign-issued UnionPay cards more broadly in the future.

At this point, if your primary goal is online purchases, the easiest route is a China-issued UnionPay debit card, funded via Bitcoin transfers to avoid USD/???-RMB conversion pains.

TerryK

I don't think this US based Unionpay is useful unless you make frequent trips to China.

It is theoretically interchangeable with Discover yet it is rather troublesome to use in practice. Many POS, which accepts Discover, reject it while many establishments won't accept it when chip authorization fails. It only works through Discover network using magnetic swipe and only for certain POS. It doesn't work online, for websites accepting Discover, either.

Based on what Scifience posted, it is not fully interchangeable with local issued Unionpay in China either. I am not sure if it is worth the hassle.

Majuki

I saw this at Waikele Premium Outlets last week:



The ICBC UnionPay card starts with a 62, so it seems a cardholder could obtain the $25 gourmet coffee and tea gift card offer based on the terms and conditions. I haven't been to other Simon outlets in about a year, so I don't know if this offer is duplicated elsewhere. The 6% cashback is limited to Bank of China cardholders.

Has anyone received some of the UnionPay specific offers using the ICBC card yet?

TerryK

See this:
http://unionpayintl.com/upiweb-card/...fferInfoFlag=1

I have not tried it personally, but looks like it should work. You need to charge $500+ to your Unionpay card at the mall.

Scifience

I was able to use a similar promo at Tysons Corner Center outside of DC last month, despite some rather amused looks from the people at the customer service counter.

Some of the promos have fine print that more-or-less makes them useless to US-based cardholders (e.g. Amazon promo only works if shipping from Amazon US to China), but absent such terms, they should work.

Also, FWIW, I've been batting about ~60% at getting this to process over Discover while trying to hit the $1k cashback bonus.

Majuki

Do merchants refuse to fallback and swipe the card when the EMV transaction fails? I've only used the card twice to try it out, once at Target and once at Panera Bread. Target was at self checkount, so I directed the payment and swiped after EMV failed. At Panera I tried a contactless payment, but it failed. Since Panera is still magstripe, I was able to swipe without an issue.

I have a trip planned to Hong Kong next month, so I'll try using the card there to provide some data points.

tmiw

I walked by a Vons (what Safeway is called down here) today that was displaying the UnionPay decal. The sticker looked fairly new too. Any possibility that the chip on this card works there?

Majuki

I doubt it, but I can check my local Safeway to see if they've added stickers. It's just like many places in Hawaii will have the JCB stickers even though you'll need to swipe the card.

tmiw

I agree it's likely a long shot, but who knows? This particular location wasn't exactly a tourist spot either, so the likelihood might be a bit higher than it would be otherwise.

tmiw

Here's an interesting thread I found last night about this card. Apparently it's accepted at (most?) places that can run debit, even if they don't accept Discover. This potentially means that you can use this card at Costco and Arco. ^

Also, online apps are currently shuttered. Hopefully only temporarily, for those who want this card.

Majuki

I just returned from Hong Kong. For my first purchase, I used my UnionPay card to test things out by buying train tickets on the Airport Express Line to Hong Kong Station:



Of course, there was no DCC even though their acquirer, Citibank, offers it on Visa and MasterCard. The purchase amount was HK$170.00, and the posted transaction amount was $21.97. This is slightly less favorable than what the Visa rate would have been using my Chase Sapphire Reserve at $21.91. In absolute terms, it's not too bad and definitely better than getting hit with DCC. From reading some posts on FlyerTalk, UnionPay's exchange rates are slightly higher than Visa/MC, but nothing too egregious. On average you'll see a charge post about 0.25-0.50% higher than what it would have been with Visa or MC.

I also tested the QuickPass at both Market Place by Jasons and Mannings with percysmith, but we couldn't get it to work. We did, however, have a successful transaction with my Chase Sapphire Reserve via Android Pay at Jasons.

Overall, I'm happy that this card works as advertised, and I think it will serve me well for any future travels to Mainland China. I don't necessarily know if I'd make it my everyday spend card, but it's certainly helpful in those places where I'd be making a small purchase, don't want to deal with cash, and don't want an issue with DCC. Also, the widespread acceptance helps quite a bit. I think I will still use my Chase Sapphire Reserve for larger purchases and any shopping categories with bonuses.

Also, I edited out 6 digits of the card number that appeared on the receipt, indicated with the lines under the Xs

Majuki

ICBC did a hard pull on Experian when I applied for the card, but I noticed that my card hasn't reported to any of the three bureaus. I've used the card a few times, and so there has been activity on the account. I haven't yet let a statement cut with a balance, so that might be the reason why.

Any other data points?

EasyD

I've had my ICBC UnionPay card for 3 billing cycles. The hard pull is on my Experian report, but no trade line.