UnionPay

China UnionPay was set up in Shanghai in 2002, with the central bank's blessing, to stitch together Chinese banks' fragmented card systems. In practice it enjoyed a monopoly on domestic card transactions for nearly two decades. Visa and Mastercard were kept waiting outside, even after the WTO ruled in 2012 that China was discriminating against them. Its cards are easy to spot: the number usually starts with 62.

The card count runs into the billions, but for everyday purchases China long ago moved on to Alipay and WeChat Pay. When Visa and Mastercard left Russia in March 2022, Russian banks turned to UnionPay. Enthusiasm on the other side was muted, since Chinese banks with international business had no wish to invite American secondary sanctions.