Last year, UnionPay and the foreign exchange bureau reiterated many times that UnionPay cards could not be used to purchase investment insurance overseas. This year, UnionPay once again stressed that mainland residents cannot use UnionPay cards to buy houses in Hong Kong.

Recently, China UnionPay has instructed all banking institutions in Hong Kong to stop all mainland UnionPay cards from paying to the real estate agency industry. UnionPay cards issued in Hong Kong are not affected by this directive. This move may have an impact on the new property market in Hong Kong. The data shows that in 20 16, the proportion of mainland buyers buying first-hand properties in Hong Kong was about 13.8%, which was further higher than the level of 9.7% in 20 15, and reached a four-year high after the introduction of buyer stamp duty in 20 12. Unionpay international subsequently responded that UnionPay cards issued in the Mainland are strictly prohibited for cross-border purchase of real estate. This rule is not new, nor has it changed.

The person in charge of unionpay international said: "Recently, we conducted a survey with cooperative institutions on the cross-border suspicious transactions of UnionPay cards, and reiterated the requirements for strengthening merchant management. According to the collection management rules of UnionPay, UnionPay cards issued in the Mainland are strictly prohibited for cross-border purchase of real estate, and this rule has not changed. If the illegal acceptance of UnionPay cards is found in the investigation of large suspicious transactions, we will handle it according to regulations. "

On June 5438+ 10 last year, UnionPay issued the compliance guidelines for overseas insurance merchants to accept domestic UnionPay cards, reaffirming relevant regulatory requirements and business rules to ensure the compliance of domestic UnionPay cards overseas. The above documents stipulate that domestic residents can use UnionPay cards to pay current account insurance related to overseas tourism consumption such as accidents and diseases; It is strictly forbidden to use UnionPay cards to pay for other insurance items. A single transaction of an overseas insurance merchant shall not exceed $5,000 or other equivalent foreign currency.