China UnionPay's automatic teller machine (ATM) business has expanded to 45 countries and regions and holders of the company's bank cards can make direct purchases with the cards in 27 of them, company president Xu Luode said on Monday.

UnionPay card holders can now withdraw cash from 368,000 ATMs in the 45 service areas and make direct purchases through nearly 200,000 point-of-sale machines at about 150,000 business outlets in 27 service areas, according to Xu.

About 40 financial institutions have issued more than 270,000 UnionPay cards to local residents in six countries and regions, Xuadded.

He noted that overseas card-based consumption through UnionPay's network allowed direct exchange between Renminbi and local currencies.

Last year saw China UnionPay's overseas business increase nearly 70 percent year-on-year. Its business in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States and Switzerland jumped more than 500 percent, Xu said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2008)