China UnionPay Co. Ltd. (CUP), a Chinese bankcard services provider, announced Wednesday it has signed a memorandum with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to further facilitate CUP bankcard services in the city-state.

According to the memorandum, both sides agreed to jointly promote the use of CUP bankcards in Singapore and will look to expand their cooperation to other countries and regions.

China UnionPay will issue new CUP-Singapore Tourism bankcards to provide better and more efficient payment services to Chinese CUP bankcard holders traveling to Singapore, according to the memorandum.

CUP bankcards have been accepted in Singapore since 2005 and are now accepted by almost all ATMs and 20,000 merchants across the country.

About 1 million Chinese tourists visited Singapore in 2009, according to the STB figures.