UnionPay Makes a New Breakthrough in Promoting International Application of China's Payment Standard

Promoted by UnionPay, EMVCo officially releases the EMVCo QR Code Specification for Payment Systems: Consumer-Presented Mode Version 1.0 on its website on July 15, 2017, providing one and the first globally interoperable technical solution for QR code payment. The issuing of this specification also marks a new breakthrough in UnionPay’s promotion of the international application of China’s payment standard.

UnionPay has taken the lead in promoting the issuing of the Specification. Back in June, 2016, UnionPay proposed to EMVCo to establish a safe, interoperable and open QR code payment system. EMVCo formed a working group for evolving the QR Code Specification and appointed UnionPay as the group leader in the next month. Drawing upon China’s experience in developing QR code payment solutions, and based on the UnionPay QR Code Payment Specification, UnionPay led the group in drawing up the final technical solution. It merely took 12 months from the forming of the working group to the issuing of the Specification. It demonstrates UnionPay’s strength and influence in developing international payment standards.

The QR Code Payment Specification that UnionPay issued to its members early this July is compatible with this EMVCo Specification. UnionPay has also promoted its internationally interoperable chip card standard in markets outside mainland China. The UnionPay chip card standard is not only the recommended standard for the payment industry of Thailand and Myanmar, but also the cross-border chip card standard for the Asian Payment Network. The adoption of the UnionPay standard helps the chip migration of the bankcard industry of these countries and regions as well as the integration with international standards.

Next, UnionPay will accelerate to promote its QR code products and services in markets outside mainland China. On the one hand, it will promote more partners to adopt the safer and internationally interoperable UnionPay standard in the acceptance and issuance of QR code payment. In fact, UnionPay, together with Visa and Mastercard, has made the EMVCo QR code specification the specification recommended by the Bank of Thailand to the local financial institutions and merchants. On the other, UnionPay will collaborate with financial institutions and merchant groups in expanding the acceptance of its QR code payment in fields of transport, hospital, social security and education, while offering digital wallet products to meet overseas customers’ diverse demands for mobile payments. Now, some merchants in Hon Kong and Singapore have accepted the UnionPay QR code payment, which will be accepted in Southeast, Northeast and Central Asia soon.

Since joining in EMVCo in May 2013, UnionPay has actively taken part in evolving and implementating the EMV Specifications, ensuring the compatibility of the UnionPay standards with the EMV Specifications. From July 2015 to June 2016, UnionPay acted as Chair of EMVCo’s Management Committee; and it is Chair of EMVCo’s Executive Committee since July 5, 2017.