UnionPay Tax Refund service available in 44 countries and regions

SHANGHAI, July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- UnionPay International announced today that its tax refund service is now available in 44 countries and regions. In addition to traditional tax refund service at airports, UnionPay cardholders can also enjoy Early Refund service, which allows them to get the refund before their purchases are exported. With the greater coverage and flexibility of UnionPay Tax Refund service, the service is favored by more and more outbound tourists. The tax refund volume with UnionPay cards has been growing rapidly for several years, and has grown by about 60% in the first half of this year.

Service scope of UnionPay Tax Refund continues to expand

In recent years, Chinese tourists are traveling to more destinations, and more tourists are visiting the Belt and Road countries. In line with this trend, UnionPay International is expanding the scope of its tax refund service through cooperation with tax refund agencies worldwide. This year, seven countries including Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Macedonia and Serbia have newly started offering UnionPay Tax Refund service. So far, UnionPay Tax Refund service is available at over 300,000 merchants in 44 countries and regions.

Meanwhile, UnionPay Tax Refund also allows greater flexibility around when and how UnionPay cardholders receive their VAT refund. In addition to the traditional airport tax refund, UnionPay International has launched Early Refund Service in cooperation with Global Blue last year. After shopping, customers can use UnionPay credit card as a guarantee, and get their VAT refund in-store or at the Global Blue outlets downtown before their purchases have been exported. This service is continuously expanding and now covers 14 countries and regions including France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Moreover, consumers from mainland China are able to claim tax refund online via the official website or WeChat account of UnionPay International after getting back to China. In this way, they only need to get their tax refund receipts stamped by the Customs.

UnionPay offers customers smooth tax refund experience

To further improve cardholder's tax refund experience, UnionPay International continues to enhance the convenience of its tax refund service. Now cardholders can log in to the mobile website or WeChat service account of UnionPay International to calculate the tax refunds of different countries, track the refund status, find the tax refund office nearby, and check about the detailed tax refund guidelines of each country.

Customers with UnionPay premium cards (including Platinum and Diamond cards) are offered free access to the Global Blue VIP Lanes at seven major European airports, including Copenhagen Airport, Rome Fiumicino Airport, Frankfurt Airport, Madrid Airport, and Munich Airport. Cardholders can also enjoy VIP services at Global Blue lounges in Milan and Rome.

Next year, Chinese tourists will be able to print tax refund form via the "UnionPay" app, without the need to handwrite the form, and the refund will be directly credited into the designated UnionPay accounts in RMB.