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27 Jun, 2015

UnionPay cards now accepted for Turkey’s E-Visa application

2015-06-17, UnionPay media release – Tourists who have recent plans to travel to Turkey will find that they can pay the visa fee by UnionPay cards as they apply for an E-Visa. UnionPay International announced today Turkey’s electronic visa application page is now accepting UnionPay cards (card number starting with 62), providing more convenient and secure payment experiences to residents in countries where they are able to apply for an E-Visa to Turkey. It will also help bring more tourists from around the world to experience the exotic scenery of the ancient country on the Silk Road.

Turkey has rich tourism resources and is becoming more and more popular among global tourists. At present, residents in over 100 countries and regions including China are able to apply for an E-Visa to Turkey. To tourists, E-Visa, as a rapid and convenient way for visa application, can save the trouble of preparing paper materials and waiting in line. Turkey E-Visa was first available to Chinese citizens in 2013. In February this year, the visa policy was further relaxed and citizens holding a Chinese passport were able to submit visa applications online. After the relaxation on the visa policy, Chinese tourists to Turkey rose 74% in February and 42% in March and April this year respectively.

Applicants can visit the electronic visa application page (www.evisa.gov.tr/en/) to submit applications, pay the fees online and download the E-Visa. Applicants can select UnionPay credit cards or UnionPay debit cards to complete the payment. The E-Visa for a single trip to Turkey and validate for 30 days may be obtained within several minutes at the soonest. However, it is recommended to submit the application 48 hours at least prior to travel. The service is based on UnionPay Online Payment, which adopts the internet security architecture with proprietary intellectual property right and ensures the security of online payment comprehensively via multiple security technology and risk monitoring.

Turkey is an important country along the “Belt and Road Initiative”, with about 30% of local merchants at the most touristic locations and over 11,000 ATMs currently accepting UnionPay cards, covering almost all the places frequently visited by tourists. It is expected that the acceptance coverage of UnionPay cards will be improved to 80% in the next two years. In March this year, UnionPay International joined hands with the largest card issuing bank in Turkey to issue UnionPay cards locally and realized the debut of UnionPay commercial card in the in the Middle East.