中國銀聯與國際對手展開全球較量

For Myanmar’s first generation of bank customers, there is little difference between a Visa card and one from China’s state-controlled card-payment monopoly, UnionPay.

對緬甸的第一代銀行客戶而言，一張Visa卡與一張銀聯卡幾乎沒什麼區別，後者由中國國有控股的銀行卡支付壟斷企業中國銀聯(UnionPay)發行。

With only 2 per cent of the Southeast Asian nation’s 53m people carrying plastic in their wallets, UnionPay’s rapid push into the frontier market will make its red, blue and green logo one of the first that Burmese youth see when opening an account or applying for a credit card at a local bank.

在這個人口5300萬的東南亞國家，只有2%的人錢包裏有銀行卡，中國銀聯在這一前沿市場的快速推進，將使其紅、藍、綠三色標識成爲在當地銀行開戶或申請信用卡的緬甸年輕人首先看到的公司標識之一。

Myanmar is ground zero for the group’s attempt to steal global market share from companies such as Visa and MasterCard. The same goes for countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan and even the Democratic Republic of Congo — all spots where local banks have started issuing the Chinese company’s cards to an increasing cohort of non-Chinese customers.

緬甸是中國銀聯嘗試從Visa、萬事達(MasterCard)等信用卡公司手中爭奪全球市場份額的起點。中國銀聯同時進軍的國家還包括印度尼西亞、馬來西亞、哈薩克斯坦，甚至剛果民主共和國——在這些國家，當地銀行已經開始向越來越多的非中國籍客戶發放銀聯卡。

“For many people in emerging markets, this will be the first card they come in contact with,” said Neil Katkov, senior vice-president at finance consultant Celent in Tokyo. “That’s a big shift from when Visa and MasterCard were the only game in town.”

“對新興市場的許多人來說，這將是他們接觸的第一張卡，”金融諮詢公司Celent在東京的高級副總裁內爾?卡特科夫(Neil Katkov)表示，“相比那個只有Visa和萬事達兩家的時代，這是一個巨大轉變。”

In just 15 years, UnionPay has become the largest bank cards group in the world by value of card transactions, taking a 37 per cent chunk of the $21.6tn global payments market in 2015, according to a report from London-based payments consultant RBR.

總部位於倫敦的支付諮詢機構RBR的一份報告顯示，按卡交易價值計算，中國銀聯在短短15年間已成長爲全球最大銀行卡組織，在2015年全球21.6萬億美元的支付市場中佔比高達37%。

But the company’s grip on the market is based almost entirely on China, where its status as a de facto monopoly has drawn the country into a years-long clash with the World Trade Organisation.

但中國銀聯的市場份額幾乎完全是在中國境內，該公司在本國事實上的壟斷地位使得中國與世界貿易組織(WTO)多年陷於衝突。

Excluding its business in China, UnionPay claims just 0.5 per cent of the global market, compared with Visa’s 50 per cent and MasterCard’s 31 per cent.

扣除在中國的業務，中國銀聯在全球市場僅佔0.5%，相比之下，Visa和萬事達分別佔50%和31%。

Experts watching the group say it has a clear government mandate to take on Visa and MasterCard outside China.

關注銀聯的專家表示，銀聯明顯是接到了中國政府的授意，要在中國境外與Visa和萬事達進行角逐。

“This is an effort to expand China’s financial influence globally,” said Simon Lee, an assistant dean at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School. “The recognition of Chinese brands, especially in finance, is very low abroad. Companies like this are trying to change that.”

“此舉是在全球擴大中國金融影響力的努力，”香港中文大學(Chinese University of Hong Kong)商學院助理院長李兆波(Simon Lee)說，“國外對中國品牌的認可度很低，特別是在金融領域。銀聯等公司正試圖改變這種狀況。”

UnionPay declined to comment and MasterCard would not discuss the Chinese rival’s strategy. Visa did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

銀聯拒絕置評，萬事達不願討論這家中國對手的戰略。Visa未迴應有關此事的置評請求。

UnionPay’s first rollout into global markets saw it chasing after newly rich Chinese tourists armed for the first time with credit cards. Luxury shops in Europe such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry were among the first merchants to accept the cards in western countries, hoping to attract the burgeoning wealth of independent Chinese travellers.

在對全球市場的第一輪擴張中，銀聯追隨那些身上首次帶着信用卡、新近富裕起來的中國遊客的腳步。路易威登(Louis Vuitton)和博柏利(Burberry)等歐洲奢侈品店是西方國家中首批接受這種信用卡的商家，它們希望把中國獨立遊客迅速增長的財富吸引過來。

The group’s payment terminals are now ubiquitous and more than 41m merchants in 160 countries accept the cards, the company says, making it one of the most widely accepted payment providers.

銀聯表示，如今該集團的支付終端隨處可見，160個國家逾4100萬商家接受這種信用卡，令銀聯成爲獲得最廣泛接受的支付提供商之一。

Since launching UnionPay in 2002 with a consortium of state-owned banks, China’s central bank has blocked the domestic expansion of Visa and MasterCard and granted the Chinese company free rein over one of the world’s largest payments markets.

自2002年批准由多家國有銀行聯手成立銀聯以來，中國央行阻止了Visa和萬事達在境內的擴張，實際上讓銀聯獨享世界最大支付市場之一。

In 2012, the World Trade Organisation ruled that China had unfairly discriminated against foreign payment companies, a major victory for the US, which brought the complaint. Since then, Chinese regulators have dragged their feet on opening the market, only recently announcing they would allow foreign players to establish their own payment clearing businesses this year.

2012年，世貿組織曾裁定中國不公平地歧視境外支付企業，這是提出申訴的美國的重大勝利。自那以來，中國監管機構在開放市場方面行動遲緩，直到最近才宣佈今年會允許外國競爭者建立自己的支付結算業務。

“Increasingly, China UnionPay is competing on a global scale. They will need to play along with the global rules,” said Alfred Shang, a financial services partner at Bain & Co in Beijing, who has advised multinational payment companies on their China strategy. “They are trying to strike reciprocal rules with other payment networks around the world, so they need to be seen as playing by the rules.”

貝恩公司(Bain & Co)在北京的金融服務業合夥人、曾爲跨國支付企業提供中國戰略方面的諮詢的項安達(Alfred Shang)表示：“中國銀聯正越來越多地在全球層面開展競爭。他們將需要尊重全球的遊戲規則。他們正試圖與全球其他支付網絡達成互惠規則，因此他們需要被視爲遵守遊戲規則。”

UnionPay’s global ambitions are not restricted to developing countries such as Myanmar.

中國銀聯的全球雄心並不限於緬甸等發展中國家。

In a span of just five years, the company says more than 68m UnionPay cards have been issued in 40 different foreign countries, including advanced economies such as Singapore and Japan. In Russia, UnionPay is tipped to link up directly with the country’s payments system as the authorities seek ways to reduce the impact of possible future western sanctions.

中國銀聯表示，在短短五年裏，該公司在40個境外國家發行逾6800萬張銀聯卡，其中包括新加坡和日本等發達經濟體。在俄羅斯，由於當局正在想辦法降低西方未來可能制裁的影響，中國銀聯據悉與該國支付系統直接聯通。

Despite enjoying the direct backing of the Chinese government and the luxury of a captive home market, UnionPay’s global battle will not be won easily.

儘管得到了中國政府直接支持，迄今又基本上獨享本土市場，但中國銀聯的全球競爭不會贏得太容易。

New technology and the availability of better data are changing how the global payments market operates, and new entrants such as UnionPay will have to provide something new in terms of pricing, service, technology or scale, Mr Shang said.

項安達表示，新技術和可獲得數據質量的改善正在改變全球支付市場的運營方式，銀聯之類的新入場者將不得不在定價、服務、技術或規模方面提供一些新的東西。

“UnionPay’s global expansion comes at a time when the entire market is ripe for disruption, so they need to consider their business model carefully,” Mr Shang said. “If they just play a ‘me-too strategy’ with Visa and MasterCard, there’s really no point.”

項安達表示：“銀聯的全球擴張正趕上整個市場重新洗牌時機成熟之際，因此他們需要仔細考慮自己的商業模式。如果他們只是與Visa和萬事達玩‘我也能做到’這種戰略，那真的沒什麼意義。”