The European Travel Commission and Mastercard have launched a co-branded credit card with ICBC to support payment experiences for Chinese travellers visiting Europe.
Following this announcement, the ICBC European Travel Co-branded Credit Card combines ICBC's cross-border financial capabilities, ETC's destination network, and Mastercard's global acceptance infrastructure in order to provide payment access across European markets.
Supporting cross-border travel payments
According to the official press release, the card was designed to facilitate payments for transport, accommodation, dining, and cultural experiences across the region of Europe. At the same time, it also targets Chinese outbound travellers as demand for long-haul travel continues to recover, with Europe welcoming 793 million international tourists in 2025.
The collaboration addresses practical payment needs for Chinese visitors who are navigating multiple European destinations, while also aiming to support everyday travel transactions through the use of Mastercard's international acceptance network, enabling payments across ETC's member destinations. This also aligns with the fact that Chinese outbound travel has entered a stage of steady, experience‑driven growth since Q3 2024, with travellers spending more time and money on several ways of transport, dining, and entertainment rather than purely on shopping.
The institutions will also focus on giving travellers the possibility to move across Europe with optimised ease and confidence, unlocking priceless experiences along the way, while staying committed to developing human‑centered cross‑border journeys and enabling more meaningful moments for people everywhere.
With this in mind, ICBC, ETC, and Mastercard positioned the card as part of broader efforts to develop cross-border payment infrastructure between China and Europe, as the product was made available for leisure travel, business trips, as well as longer stays for study or family visits. The three partners also stated they will continue collaboration on cross-border payment development and tourism promotion between China and Europe, while focusing on meeting the needs, preferences, and demands of clients and users, and remaining compliant with the regulatory requirements and laws of the industry as well.
