China UnionPay has stepped up its European ambitions after striking a deal with a UK back-office startup, Tribe Payments

The deal makes Tribe one of the first issuer processors in Europe to havew the necessary certification to allow banks to issue UnionPay cards.

UnionPay has talked of its plans to enter the European market for more than six months and is now set to rival Visa and Mastercard with branded cards expected to be available later this month.

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