TSYS Increases Equity Stake In China UnionPay Data
Columbus, Ga., Sept. 11, 2006 - TSYS has increased its equity interest in China UnionPay Data Services Co., Ltd. (“CUP Data”) to 44.5 percent. Chinese regulatory authorities approved the investment last month.
"This additional investment from TSYS further strengthens the partnership that our companies have achieved," says Mr. Huaiguang Shan, the president of CUP Data. "Within a short period of time, CUP Data is applying the technology and expertise of TSYS across the company so that better payment technologies and services are available to our clients."
CUP Data is China’s largest bankcard processor, providing transaction processing, disaster recovery and other services for issuing banks in China. Since CUP Data was established in 2003, the company has been providing processing services to 16 of China’s 29 credit card-issuing banks, while 12 of the remaining banks continue these services in house.
“For the best interest of CUP Data in the long run, achieving this important objective enables TSYS to fully focus attention on supporting CUP Data’s efforts to bring the finest technology and service to its client institutions in China,” says M. Troy Woods, president and chief operating officer of TSYS.
Separately, TSYS announced that David E. Duncan, has been appointed managing director of TSYS Asia-Pacific. Effective immediately, Duncan has relocated to Shanghai to oversee the company’s relationships with CUP Data and its clients, and to coordinate all TSYS activities in the continental Asia-Pacific.
“I am eager to continue working with our colleagues at CUP Data, which represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities at present in the world of payments,” Duncan says. “Because of the dynamic growth in the Asia-Pacific payments arena, TSYS considers this region a strategic priority for our long-term success.”
In his tenure at TSYS, Duncan was instrumental in establishing TSYS Japan and worked closely with the company’s merchant-acquiring joint venture in Japan, GP Network Corp. He also has directed the company’s initiatives in China since 2001. Before then, Duncan held numerous positions at TSYS Acquiring Solutions, including director of international strategy. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., and a master’s degree from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, in Glendale, Ariz.
About China UnionPay
China UnionPay (CUP) is sanctioned by the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, and has become one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing payments networks. CUP has 166 member banks, and is responsible for operating the only national bankcard network to enable and promote the acceptance of bankcards in China. More than 960 million general-purpose bankcards issued by Chinese banks carry the CUP brand.
About TSYS
TSYS (tsys.com) is one of the world’s largest payment-services companies. TSYS offers a broad range of processing and packaged technologies for issuing and acquiring, including support of consumer-finance, credit, debit and prepaid services. TSYS supports its clients’ operations in 76 countries worldwide. Based in Columbus, Ga., TSYS (NYSE: TSS) is 80-percent held by Synovus (NYSE: SNV), a $30 billion financial-services company that is one of FORTUNE magazine’s “Most Admired Companies” and a member of its “100 Best Companies to Work For” Hall of Fame. For more information, contact news@tsys.com.
Contacts
TSYS Media Relations
Cyle Mims
+1.706.644.3110
cylemims@tsys.com