Bank card transactions in China during the week-long Spring Festival amounted to 11.8 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars ), close to one and a half times that of the same period last year, the latest statistics from China Union Pay show.

Between January 29 and February 4, bank card transactions through Point of Sale (POS) reached 6.2 billion yuan and 5.6 billion yuan for ATMs. About 34 million bank card transactions were recorded during the holiday, 1.35 times more than in the same period last year.

The statistics reveal that bank card transactions maintained an upward curve from January 29, the first day of the holiday, coming to a head on February 4, with the daily transaction total rising from 1.15 billion yuan to about 2.2 billion yuan.

With China Union Pay's expansion of its overseas bank card services, the Chinese are enjoying the convenience in more and more overseas cities.

During the holiday, China's international bank card transactions also peaked in Chinese tourist hotspots such as Singapore, Japan and Thailand.

According to the statistics, China's international bank card transactions stood at 187,000, hitting 680 million yuan, up 92.3 percent and 122.1 percent respectively year-on-year.

Source: Xinhua