China Union Pay and Global Payments big players in Asia

CUP is on the move and positioning itself to be the premiere card brand throughout Asia.  Everywhere I went (Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, less so, Manila) CUP was advertising with large signs and billboards, making a play for membership and exclusive savings similar to the way American Express or Discover has marketed themselves for years here in the west.  Whereas Amex has been more of an “exclusive” or “luxury” brand and Discover has been “of the people”, CUP seems to be aiming for a mix of both with a “membership has its rewards” play.  Examples of this included many locations (malls, tourist attractions and the airports) claiming additional 10% off if paid for using a CUP card.  Visa was a prevalent brand in terms of acceptance, but CUP and Global Payments was even more so.

Global Payments seems to be an Asian market acquiring leader, or at least a preferred partner of choice in the travel and entertainment segment – Everywhere I went (Tokyo, Taipei, Manila, Singapore) Global Payments was a very visible and very present acquirer.  Especially through their partnership with HSBC, the Global Payments logo was visible on the fronts and backs of many (ok, so, almost ALL!) of my receipts.  A public facing brand was clearly recognizable as I saw it on most of my receipts!

Sandals St. Thomas, Honeymoon out of the country

Big gaijin in Japan, or not so much…

Here was my perspective from my first ever business meeting in Japan.  Thank goodness for the Interpreter and the patience and contributions of so many helpful and engaged team mates!

I think I learned more from them than they did me, but I hope they got a lot of value out of it.  The consecutive translation was very tough, but we made it, I only hope I didn’t wear out my translator for tomorrow’s class.  It was HARD!

And while at 6’2” I am still a big gaijin, I’m not as big as I would have been say, 20 years ago.  Yes, Asians are still mostly smaller, but I looked into the eyes of quite a few 6’+ Japanese.

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