Under the patronage of His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Dr. Riad Salameh, Fransabank Group launched the first China Union Pay card in Lebanon, during a press conference which was held at Adnan Kassar Edifice for Arab Economy in Jnah Area in Beirut, on February 12th.
The conference was presided by the Chairman of Fransabank Group, HE Mr. Adnan Kassar, with the presence of the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Lebanon, HE Mr. Jiang Jiang, and First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon Mr. Raed Charafeddine, along with a group of executives in UnionPay, Chinese and Lebanese businessmen, as well as press and media representatives.
The conference opened with Kassar extending his thanks to HE the Governor for holding this launch under his patronage, and highly commending the diligent efforts and sound regulations of the Central Bank “which has protected our banking sector, and thus our country, from international financial crises enabling us to withstand and overcome challenges and pressure.” Kassar also thanked Ambassador Jiang, paying tribute to his Excellency’s “relentless efforts which have led to the improved trade, business and other ties between our countries.”
On the other hand, Kassar mentioned that Fransabank Group established a China desk “to serve its customers who travel to and workwith China, and to support the Chinese companies operating in our markets, which counts more than 11 countries where Fransabank is present.
As for the joint agreement signed between Fransabank and UnionPay to launch this card, Kassar assured that “Fransabank Group is now the pioneer, the FIRST to issue this card in Lebanon and to competitively accept, on all our ATMs at Fransabank and BLC as well. He also mentioned that UnionPay cards can, in fact, be accepted at over 12 million merchants and 1.1 million ATMs across the world.”
He also pointed out that the growing trade between Lebanon and China in recent years regarding the import of Chinese products and industries to the Lebanese market has made of CUP card an essential need and a necessary paying tool for Lebanese and Chinese businessmen and traders, expecting it to positively contribute to promote these exchanges.
Charafeddine also emphasized that the Central Bank’s concern in developing payment systems in line with the best international standards comes due to its belief that the payment systems efficiency does affect the safety and effectiveness of the financial and banking sector performance as well as macroeconomic activity in general.”