UnionPay announced in Shanghai on May 20 that it has become the latest member of EMVCo, an international organization that deals with standardized integrated-circuit card specifications in a bid to develop a worldwide acceptance and issuance network.

The global payment industry is under the progress of IC card migration, which provides opportunities to all parties in the payment field, and UnionPay will further enhance the collaboration with global payment industries with a cooperative and open attitude, UnionPay said in the announcement.

UnionPay said it will continue to provide quality payment services to cardholders and drive the development of the worldwide bank-card industry.

EMVCo, an organization whose members include MasterCard, Visa, JCB and American Express, is in charge of enacting, maintaining, enhancing and evolving EMV specifications. UnionPay??s addition as a member makes the institutions participating in IC card standardization more credible, the announcement said.