UnionPay International (UPI) announces today its cooperation with Huawei and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai) to launch in Thailand Huawei Pay, a UnionPay mobile payment product which, to date, is available in six markets outside of the Chinese mainland and supports UnionPay cards issued by over ten local partners and Chinese banks in these markets.

In recent years, Huawei has been a significant partner to UPI in its development of global mobile payment business. In 2019, the companies jointly rolled out Huawei Pay in Russia and Hong Kong. The recent launch of the UPI Mobile Payment Service Platform (UMPS) has made it easier and more efficient for overseas institutions to access the Huawei Pay solution, which facilitates the overseas implementation of the product. So far this year, Huawei Pay has been introduced in Pakistan, Macau, and Singapore successively, and has been enhanced to support more institutions in Hong Kong.

Thailand is one of the top ten mobile payment markets in the world. As a means to adapt to changing consumer payment habits, the launch of Huawei Pay in the country by UPI, Huawei, and ICBC (Thai) will provide more mobile payment options available to local residents. Users in Thailand can make tap-and-go payment, without unlocking their device or opening the app, after adding their UnionPay card issued by ICBC (Thai) to the Wallet of Huawei or Honor mobile phones.
UnionPay cross-border mobile payment products enable users to enjoy tap-and-go payment at more than 20 million POS terminals in 52 countries and regions simply with a mobile phone. In the case of Thailand, this includes well-known convenience stores, supermarkets, and F&B retailers, such as 7-Eleven, Boots, Lemon Farm, Gourmet Market, Sushi Hiro, and Wawee Coffee.

UnionPay is a payment brand familiar to Thai consumers. At present, all ATMs and over 90% of Thai merchants accept UnionPay cards, and eight major Thai banks issue UnionPay in the country. Thailand is also the first country outside mainland China that has adopted UnionPay specifications for all its chip cards. Building on these achievements, UPI will join hands with Huawei and work with more local partners to provide mobile payment services to an increasing number of local consumers.