TSYS has increased its equity interest in China UnionPay Data Services Co., Ltd. (CUP Data) to 44.5 percent.
Chinese regulatory authorities approved the investment last month.
"This additional investment from TSYS further strengthens the partnership that our companies have achieved," says Mr. Huaiguang Shan, the president of CUP Data. "Within a short period of time, CUP Data is applying the technology and expertise of TSYS across the company so that better payment technologies and services are available to our clients."
CUP Data is China's largest bankcard processor, providing transaction processing, disaster recovery and other services for issuing banks in China. Since CUP Data was established in 2003, the company has been providing processing services to 16 of China's 29 credit card-issuing banks, while 12 of the remaining banks continue these services in house.
"For the best interest of CUP Data in the long run, achieving this important objective enables TSYS to fully focus attention on supporting CUP Data's efforts to bring the finest technology and service to its client institutions in China," says M. Troy Woods, president and chief operating officer of TSYS.
Separately, TSYS announced that David E. Duncan, has been appointed managing director of TSYS Asia-Pacific. Effective immediately, Duncan has relocated to Shanghai to oversee the company's relationships with CUP Data and its clients, and to coordinate all TSYS activities in the continental Asia-Pacific.
"I am eager to continue working with our colleagues at CUP Data, which represents one of the most exciting growth opportunities at present in the world of payments," Duncan says. "Because of the dynamic growth in the Asia-Pacific payments arena, TSYS considers this region a strategic priority for our long-term success."
In his tenure at TSYS, Duncan was instrumental in establishing TSYS Japan and worked closely with the company's merchant-acquiring joint venture in Japan, GP Network Corp. He also has directed the company's initiatives in China since 2001. Before then, Duncan held numerous positions at TSYS Acquiring Solutions, including director of international strategy. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., and a master's degree from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management, in Glendale, Ariz.