Now the millions of Chinese tourists and business people traveling to Europe will have access to a larger POS merchant base and many more ATM locations where their CUP branded bank cards will be accepted

This allows Chinese visitors to use their CUP credit and debit cards during their visits to Europe. The certification means European bank acquirers will process CUP transactions at their merchant terminals and at their ATM's.

Angel Pacheco, vice president of business development of FreeStar Technology, said, "I believe the entrance of the CUP brand into the world market to be one of the most important events in the payment industry. With an upsurge in economic growth in China coupled with the ability of the Chinese people to travel and spend abroad, we are tapping into a new source of revenue for the western markets; therefore we at FreeStar Technology invite all acquirers that share our vision on this subject to join the project and become part of the network."

FreeStar Technology noted that, as a result of years of work and significant investment in engineering and resources, Rahaxi Processing has put together a system that is extremely flexible and exposes a reliable and comprehensive interface to the acquiring community. This lowers their barrier of entry to accept CUP cardholders at their merchant locations and provides a low-cost solution with fast time to market to guarantee an excellent return on investment.

According to Chinese government statistics and Nielsen Reports, Chinese tourists and business travelers stay an average of four days in Europe and spend on average more than 2,400 euros. Typically, these visitors have prepaid their hotel bills, so their expenditures are largely for meals and shopping.

The acquirers already enrolled and the ones in current negotiations with Rahaxi Processing for the use of the gateway account for hundreds and thousands of merchant point of sale (POS) and ATM locations in: Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Greece, The Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Ukraine and Czech Republic.

Paul Egan, chief executive officer of FreeStar Technology, said, "By achieving the certification of our gateway to CUP, we believe that we have brought value to all parties involved in the acceptance of CUP cards as a method of payment. The cardholder benefits by being able to use their cards at more locations; the merchant has access to wealthy foot traffic; the acquirer sees new forms of revenue by acquiring the CUP payments, but also by having a competitive edge in merchant acquisition with this new offering."

Paul Warren, European sales director said, "Certification strengthens Rahaxi Processing's relationship with CUP and enhances its position as an expert in meeting the needs of European and Chinese businesses. Certification will contribute to boosting the company's expected revenue growth."