PR83591

SHANGHAI, April 7, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

As the struggle against COVID-19 continues, UnionPay International have

unveiled a plan for increased consumer safety through accelerating the issuance

of contactless payment enabled cards worldwide. Collaborating with many local

banks around the world, UnionPay International have also made a considerable

effort to increase availability and awareness of online checkout services in

order to step up global adoption.

As a major player in global payment technology, UnionPay International is

committed to finding effective solutions to specific local problems. Having

recently partnered with Kazakhstan's Halyk Savings Bank, UnionPay International

supported an initiative to distribute more than 100,000 contactless payment

enabled cards throughout the country in a short period of time. These cards are

welcomed by locals as aiding to quicker payments and thus reducing the health

risks associated with standing in long queues full of people. The same is

happening throughout Russia and Mongolia through a strategic partnership

reached with Gazprombank and the Khan Bank respectively.

Alongside offline contactless payments, online payment options are also being

targeted with a focus on increased numbers of merchants accepting the UnionPay

online payments and overall greater customer experience. To date, there are

over 20 million online merchants accepting UnionPay across more than 200

countries and regions. Since the outbreak began, there has been an increase of

20% in the number of online transactions worldwide with an increase of 70% in

the United States and 100% in Japan.

A growing number of these online transactions include paying for products,

services and medicines that customers would normally purchase in person, but

cannot due to quarantine or social distancing restrictions. Over the past two

months, UnionPay International has partnered with more than 10 institutions to

make these changes happen, including Stripe, Nexi in Italy, Banco Santander in

Spain, MCB Bank in Pakistan and National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia.

UnionPay online payment service is recently available at major ecommerce like

Amazon (Australia) and Ceezmall in Pakistan; food ordering apps like Foodpanda

in Southeast Asia, and online ride-hailing platforms such as Lyft in America

and Gett in Russia.

With inconsistency in the availability of competent medical advice around the

world, UnionPay International has partnered with "WeDoctor" in launching the

"WeDoctor Global Consultation and Prevention Centre". The initiative allows

global UnionPay cardholders access to a team of over 7,800 medical

professionals for health consultation and psychological assistance enquires.

With most of them being specialized in respiratory medicine or infectious

diseases, these medical professionals are primarily on call to help worried

customers differentiate between common cold, flu and COVID-19 symptoms.

Going further, UnionPay International is cooperating with more than 40 online

merchants offering real subsidies for health care for their cardholders. This

scheme includes a partnership with Jing Dong (JD) to provide masks,

disinfectant and other supplies at reasonable prices to those regions most in

need. UnionPay cardholders who make purchases on JD.com (China) or joybuy.com

(global) also enjoy an $8 instant discount in an attempt to reduce the economic

cost of the epidemic.

About UnionPay International

UnionPay International (UPI) is a subsidiary of China UnionPay focused on

international business. In partnership with more than 2,000 institutions

worldwide, UnionPay International has extended its card acceptance to 178

countries and regions globally with issuance in 61 countries and regions.

UnionPay International provides high quality, cost effective and secure

cross-border payment services to the world's largest cardholder base and

ensures convenient localized services to a growing number of global UnionPay

cardholders and merchants.

For more information, please visit www.unionpayintl.com/en.

SOURCE UnionPay International