UnionPay International, the Chinese card payment system, and the Thai Bankers Association signed an agreement on Tuesday to make UnionPay the standard chip card for local banks across the Thai banking industry.

It makes Thailand the first foreign country to adopt UnionPay as its standard chip card. Banks in Thailand are required to issue all debit cards and some credit cards with chips by 2016.

Kobsak Duangdee, secretary-general of TBA, said it chose UnionPay amid fierce international competition.