UnionPay International (UPI) reveals that it has teamed up with the International Bank of Tajikistan in order to introduce the nation’s first contactless digital wallet, notably making UnionPay the very first payment service to provide mobile contactless payment options in the country.
The number of digital wallets outside the Chinese mainland that currently support UnionPay cards has now reached 100, the announcement revealed. And the number of merchants taking UnionPay mobile payments has surpassed 10 million. These two key milestones mark the establishment of an interconnected UnionPay cross-border mobile payments service.
The growth of the international mobile payments sector has accelerated, with the transactions scaling up by around 3x from 2017 to 2020.
In line or consistent with the trend, UPI remains focused on applying the technology, specifications and market experience of Chinese mainland mobile payments to the global markets.
As the very first global card scheme that’s engaged in switching and clearing of mobile payments, UnionPay now provides a wide range of wallet products including the UnionPay App, mobile QuickPass and QR code e-wallets outside mainland China.
Clients may access various payment experiences with a scan, tap or click. UnionPay has also introduced the new mobile QuickPass, with certain products now adding contactless, QR code and in-app payment methods. This means the payment requirements in all use cases in and outside the mainland China may be accessed with one mobile phone.
UnionPay standard digital wallets have been introduced in over 20 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macao, South Pacific, and Southeast Asia, and almost 10 new virtual wallets were introduced during Q2 2021.
One out of every five or 20% of all transactions carried out with cards issued outside the Chinese mainland are routed via mobile payment channels. For instance, the Hong Kong and Macao versions of the UnionPay App offer access to nearly all domestic card-issuing banks, supporting 18 electronic wallets in the region (while supporting UnionPay QR codes, with more than 1 million cards currently enrolled).
As mentioned in the announcement, tokenization is the main technology that supports UnionPay’s digital payment options.
By generating several different stand-ins that aim to replace the authentic bank card details, the technology has been designed to provide the security needed for enrollment. It also enables secure transactions with physical cards while supporting the over-the-air issuance of virtual cards. This enables users outside the Chinese mainland without a physical card to access mobile payment services.
UPI has also created over 20 technical platforms, such as the UPI Mobile Payment Service Platform (UMPS), in order to offer support to partners throughout the world (in efficiently creating digital wallets and related use-cases).