The Monetary Authority of Macao is cracking down on the abuse of UnionPay bank cards, issued to mainland Chinese visitors, who use them to get around limits imposed on cross border cash withdrawals and fund their gambling.
On December 11 the Authority issued a statement saying it would implement a real time monitoring system for payments made via the cards, at first covering “high-risk merchants near casinos, most of which are jewellery and watches merchants.” It added, “The real time monitoring system will be extended to other highrisk merchants selling high value products in the second phase.”
The announcement came days after China UnionPay itself ordered a clampdown on point of sale (POS) machines; registered in the mainland and then modified to process transactions in Macau while making them appear as if they had taken place in China. UnionPay said its measures would involve an audit of such devices, and penalties for failure to comply with the rules.
UnionPay has the monopoly on bank cards in China, and mainland cardholders using ATM machines overseas are only allowed to withdraw the equivalent of 20,000 yuan per day. To fund gambling in Macao, they have often been using their cards to buy high-value items from jewelry shops or pawnbrokers near to casinos, before immediately selling them back to the shop owners for cash.
Analysts say the authorities have previously tolerated such transactions, and estimate they make up 10 to 15 percent of all cash accessed by mainlander gamblers in Macau. Unsurprisingly they also say the clampdown measures could reduce the territory’s Gross Gaming Revenue; by 5 percent or more.
