Geoswift, Western Union Business Solutions, a subsidiary of The Western Union Company, and UnionPay International today announced a promotion where UnionPay will pay for medical insurance coverage for eligible students that process tuition payments through their payment network.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China reported that roughly 460,000 Chinese students studied abroad in 2014. Open Doors data from the Institute of International Education (IIE) estimates 60 percent of those students attended universities in the United States. As these numbers rise, so does the number of Chinese students without health care benefits while in the country.

“Students studying abroad and their families are important customers. UnionPay International is dedicated to creating an all-dimensional payment service system for overseas students. Featuring security and convenience, the system covers a series of services including tuition payment, daily withdrawal and card swiping, establishment of student grant and other relevant services,” said Cai Jianbo, CEO, UnionPay International. “Based on UnionPay’s global acceptance network and service system, UnionPay not only provides tuition payment solutions but also offers considerate services for students’ life overseas. Going forward, we also hope that UnionPay payment services will cover various aspects of overseas student life such as clothing, food, accommodation and transportation so as to provide more care to help young Chinese become international talents.”

China UnionPay (CUP) cardholders with a card number starting with the digits 62, who successfully complete the online tuition payment via paytuitionnow.com any time between now and September 30, 2015, are entitled to a free insurance package. The offer is limited to the first 3,000 eligible cardholders and is on a first-come, first-serve basis. After processing, fulfilment will be issued to qualified students by insurance provider Allianz within 60 days after promotion period.

“Our three companies originally came together with the goal of making the tuition payment process as easy as possible for Chinese students studying abroad,” said Raymond Qu, founder and CEO, Geoswift. “We are now taking our commitment to these students and their families a step further by ensuring they can receive quality health care when studying internationally.”

“Western Union Business Solutions was created with the idea of helping people and companies streamline and simplify their international monetary transactions,” said Kerry Agiasotis, president, Western Union Business Solutions. “As a trusted payment provider for students in more than 140 countries studying at more than 300 education institutions worldwide, Western Union Business Solutions’ collaboration with UnionPay and Geoswift reinforces its global commitment toward advancing education opportunities.”

Geoswift, a leading provider of cross-border payments between China and the rest of the world, aggregates the services of Western Union Business Solutions and UnionPay International to provide end-to-end payment services. Together, the three organizations provide participating universities and higher education institutions around the world a payment platform that accepts international tuition and student fees in the Chinese yuan (CNY), enabling Chinese students and families to pay these institutions in their local currency.