Bank of Hawaii, seeking to tap into the state's growing visitor market from China, has become the first U.S. bank to create a formal joint market development agreement for both ATMs and merchant terminals with bank-card association giant China UnionPay.

The pact, signed yesterday at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, will enable China UnionPay's debit and credit card holders to access funds and make purchases and payments in Hawaii using Bankoh's network. Bankoh and China UnionPay also will promote each other in their respective markets.

“;At the beginning any venture is small,”; said Allan Landon, chairman and chief executive officer of Bankoh. “;What's big for us is the opportunity going forward as the Chinese visitors come to the islands.

“;They have a propensity to spend, and we want to make it easy for the Chinese and beneficial for our merchants.”;

Bankoh will be displaying the China UnionPay logo on the front of all of Bankoh's ATMs, as well as putting the Chinese language on all its ATM transaction screens and making point-of-sales terminals at tourism-related merchants that Bankoh services compatible with China UnionPay cards.

“;Chinese right now travel with a lot of cash,”; said Betty Brow, executive vice president of Bankoh's international banking division. “;They're big spenders, but generally they use cash because they don't know they can use their cards. But by making sure that our machine works and with the logo on it signifying they can use our machines, China UnionPay starts with us first. And if that works, they may do it with other banks.”;

Brow said there are about 1,000 merchants now that have Bankoh systems that are compatible with the China UnionPay card and that Bankoh will be extending that number by about another 2,000 in the near term and “;hopefully more”; in the future.

Landon said Bankoh ATMs began accepting China UnionPay cards about six months ago but that now Bankoh will drop the international surcharge under the three-year agreement and will offer the Chinese-language options on its ATMs.

“;They're like the Visa of China,”; said Bankoh President Peter Ho, who will take over for Landon as CEO sometime in the second half of this year. “;They have 2.1 billion cards out there. They very conservatively estimate that only 15 percent of their cards are active at a given time. Fifteen percent of 2.1 billion is like 300 million cards, which is like the population of the United States.

“;Obviously, this is a company that has a very good sense for the pulse of the marketplace in China, and the fact that they're making this much of an effort to break into the Hawaii market to kind of lay the groundwork is meaningful for us,”; Ho said.

There were 14,339 visitors from China who came to Hawaii either directly or through the U.S. in the first quarter of this year, up 23.4 percent from 11,620 in the year-earlier quarter, according to the most recent data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

“;Hawaii is one of the most important markets”; for China UnionPay, said Cai Jianbo, first executive vice president of the company. China UnionPay “;attaches great importance to the cooperation with (Bank of Hawaii). The two parties shall explore further cooperation opportunities on the basis of this agreement.”;

China UnionPay, the only bank-card association approved by the Chinese government, has about 8 million cards in use outside of China and has about 300 domestic and overseas associate members.