Suva, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China UnionPay and the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) Fiji on Tuesday announced the acceptance of UnionPay cards at BSP ATMs in the Pacific island nation of Fiji.

According to a China UnionPay news release emailed to Xinhua, the announcement was made following the launch ceremony in the Fijian capital of Suva on Monday which was attended by China UnionPay's First Executive Vice President Cai Jianbo, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of BSP in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and BSP Fiji's Country Manager Kevin McCarthy and other executives.

The launching opens the door for card holders with more than 3. 1 billion UnionPay cards to be able to withdraw local currency at any BSP ATM nationwide, says the release.

China UnionPay's Cai was quoted as saying that Fiji is the world famous tourist resort and the Chinese favorite outbound tourism destination. The cooperation between UnionPay and BSP is based on the common goal which is providing high quality card services to the cardholders who come to visit Fiji. UnionPay would utilize BSP's market advantage in South Pacific region to deepen the cooperation with each other.

BSP Fiji's McCarthy said, "We have recognised the recent influx of Chinese visitors into Fiji for tourism, study, business ventures and we've improved our service offerings to meet the demands of this new market for Fiji."

BSP Fiji is the largest bank in the island nation holding the largest branch network and fleet of ATM's making it the ideal local partner for China Union Pay.

BSP bank, the largest and most successful of the South Pacific' s local bank, was established in 1957 with its headquarters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). While being the largest bank in PNG, BSP are also present in other Pacific island countries of Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Niue.