China’s state-backed bankcard company UnionPay International has agreed to link with Portugal’s SIBS to enter the markets of four African countries, including Angola and Mozambique, Portuguese news agency Lusa reports.

SIBS owns and operates Multibanco, the interbank network in Portugal that links the automated teller machines of the lenders there. According to Lusa, Multibanco already has a presence in Angola, Mozambique, Algeria and Nigeria.

The partnership follows an agreement between UnionPay International and Portuguese companies SIBS and Unicre to promote the use of UnionPay bankcards in Portugal, a SIBS source told Lusa.

SIBS also agreed to share its “security features, innovation and new technologies in payment solutions” with UnionPay, added the report.

Established in 2002 in Shanghai, UnionPay now has more than 4.6 billion bankcards in circulation, with a network across more than 150 countries, according to its website.