Visa extends real-time money movement into mainland China

Visa is pushing deeper into one of the world’s most strategically important payment corridors, announcing a partnership with UnionPay International to enable cross-border, real-time payments into mainland China.

The agreement connects Visa Direct with UnionPay International’s MoneyExpress platform, giving senders access to more than 95% of UnionPay debit cardholders once the service launches in the first half of 2026.

The announcement was made at Web Summit Qatar, underscoring Visa’s ambition to position real-time money movement as core global infrastructure rather than a niche capability.

World’s Largest Remittance Corridors

China remains one of the largest and most complex destinations for inbound remittances, supporting family transfers, freelance income, contractor payments and reimbursements from across the global economy.

By linking Visa Direct’s global reach with UnionPay International’s domestic scale, the two companies aim to simplify access to this market through a single technical connection.

The combined platform will support a broad range of use cases, including creator and freelancer payouts, business-to-consumer disbursements and family remittances.

Availability and speed of funds will vary by receiving institution and region, reflecting local compliance and regulatory requirements.

Speed, Scale and Strategic Alignment

“Global business now moves at internet speed, but money hasn’t always kept pace,” said Vira Platonova, global head of Visa Direct. “Whether it’s a creator getting paid, a contractor receiving earnings or a family sending support across borders, reach and reassurance are everything.”

For Visa, the deal extends the footprint of Visa Direct as a foundational layer for global money movement. For UnionPay International, it aligns with a broader international strategy focused on digitisation, efficiency and trusted cross-border services.

“This cooperation with Visa represents a precise alignment of the two sides’ strengths,” said Larry Wang, chief executive of UnionPay International.

He added that the partnership responds directly to global demand for more convenient and reliable remittance services while supporting growth for partners both inside and outside China.

Competing in a Crowded Cross-Border Landscape

Visa and UnionPay are not alone in targeting the mainland China remittance market. Providers such as MoneyGram and Western Union also operate corridor-specific partnerships to enable direct payments.

Visa’s advantage lies in integrating real-time payouts into card-based infrastructure already familiar to global senders and recipients.

Visa Direct has steadily expanded through similar partnerships, including a 2023 agreement with Tencent Financial Technology that enabled remittance payments into Weixin digital wallets.

The UnionPay connection extends that strategy to debit cards at national scale.

Infrastructure, Not Experimentation

The significance of the announcement lies less in novelty than in execution.

By focusing on production-grade infrastructure — scale, compliance, reliability and predictability — Visa is signalling that real-time cross-border payments are moving from innovation to expectation.

As platforms, employers and families operate without borders, the ability to move money quickly into China is becoming essential.

With this partnership, Visa and UnionPay are betting that trusted networks, rather than isolated fintech solutions, will define the next phase of global money movement.