UnionPay QR code payments will be available to Singapore customers this year

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SINGAPORE, Nov. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- UnionPay International announced today to have cooperated with Bank of China Singapore Branch (BOCSG) in launching the BOCSG e-wallet app within this year, enabling UnionPay cardholders to make QR Code payments after adding UnionPay credit cards to the app. UnionPay International and BOCSG also collaborate with Lianhe Zaobao in launching the BOC Zaobao Card and the BOC Zaobao Debit Card, bringing greater savings and convenience to the local customers. UnionPay International also partners with AsiaMalls Management to launch UnionPay QR Code payments across all six malls of the latter.

"UnionPay QR Code payments have already been launched in Hong Kong and Macau. This time, we made another major breakthrough in Singapore, which not only demonstrates that UnionPay is accelerating the rollout of our QR Code payments worldwide, but also shows that innovation has become a significant impetus for the localized development of Chinese financial institutions that have gone abroad," said CEO of UnionPay International, Cai Jianbo. "We choose to promote UnionPay QR Code payments first in everyday spend merchants to meet the diverse payment demands of Chinese individual tourists while laying a foundation for the localization of our business in Singapore. We also collaborate with issuers in various and flexible ways to make UnionPay QR Code payments available to more customers outside mainland China.

UnionPay accelerates the localization of its business in Singapore

Singapore is one of the first Southeast Asian countries that UnionPay has made a presence. Now, UnionPay is accepted at almost all ATMs and 90% of POS terminals there. As it is increasingly convenient to use UnionPay cards in Singapore, four local banks have issued multiple UnionPay card products, and an increasing number of local customers is signing up for and using UnionPay cards.

BOCSG is the No.1 issuer of UnionPay credit cards in Singapore. UnionPay International and BOCSG further partner with Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese flagship newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings, to launch the BOC Zaobao Card and the BOC Zaobao Debit Card. The BOC Zaobao Credit Card is the first diamond credit card equipped with UnionPay's QuickPass contactless feature that has been issued in Singapore. Cardholders can make contactless payments seamlessly with a simple tap-and-go move at more than 10 million merchants worldwide, while enjoying discounts on Lianhe Zaobao and other SPH subscriptions, and a variety of cash rebates on petrol and dining.

The BOC Zaobao Credit Card will also be compatible with the BOCSG e-wallet app, jointly developed by UnionPay and BOCSG, enabling cardholders to make QR code for payments.

UnionPay QR Code payments expands globally

UnionPay QR Code payment is interoperable globally for it is compliant with the industry standard of the EMVCo QR Code Specification, and is safer by adopting the Token technology. The launch of the BOCSG e-wallet app means that the overseas roll-out of UnionPay QR Code payments has evolved from serving Chinese tourists to serving the local customers.

Singapore customers will be able to make QR Code payments at the local BreadTalk, Lady M and Itacho Sushi, as well as over 3 million merchants in the Chinese Mainland, Colourmix in Hong Kong and more than 100 restaurants in Macau. Since next year, six malls of AsiaMalls Management, namely Hougang Mall, Liang Court, TiongBahru Plaza, Tampines 1, White Sands and Century Square, will support UnionPay QR Code payments.

"We are able to establish the acceptance of UnionPay QR Code on a sizeable scale in Singapore for cross-border payment by leveraging on AsiaMalls' strong footprint in the local retail industry, offering the same seamless mobile payment experience to Chinese tourists both in Singapore and in China. It also facilitates the launch of e-wallet products by BOCSG and other local issuers while accelerating building more local application scenarios and promoting platforms," said Cai Jianbo. In the future, the QR Code for payment will also have the function of discount code, with which customers will be able to make payments and enjoy discounts with just one scan of the QR Code.

SOURCE UnionPay International