UnionPay International (UPI) announced today the launch of the UnionPay QR cash withdrawal service in Hong Kong SAR. Local residents can now enjoy cardless and interbank withdrawals by mobile banking app and scanning the cash withdrawal QR code on an ATM screen. Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of Communications (Hong Kong), China Merchants Bank (Hong Kong Branch), Livi bank and The Bank of East Asia have taken the lead in launching this service.

In Hong Kong and Macao, UnionPay cards are fully accepted and all ATMs support UnionPay cash withdrawals. A total of 30 million cards have been issued, and 18 UnionPay standard e-wallets have been launched in the region. Building on the progress of local business development, UPI rolls out the QR cash withdrawal service to further improve the experience of Hong Kong cardholders. The easy-to-use service also brings a higher level of security as it requires verification on both the app and ATM. In the future, this service will be available at more banks in the two cities to reach out to a larger customer base.

In recent years, UnionPay has stepped up its efforts to develop the acceptance network for mobile payment outside the Chinese mainland. Currently, UnionPay cards are supported in 180 countries and regions, more than half of which support UnionPay mobile payment services. In terms of use cases for QR payment, UPI has launched a variety of solutions such as QRs for sending and receiving payments, QR for cash withdrawal, and transit QR in a bid to meet the diverse needs of merchants and develop the network more rapidly. The number of UnionPay QR code merchants outside the Chinese mainland totals 1.5 million, an increase of more than three times year on year. In Hong Kong, over 50,000 merchants accept UnionPay QR codes for payments and the UnionPay Transit QR codes are supported on over 300 bus routes.

Based on the acceptance network development, more than 90 UnionPay-powered e-wallets have been launched in 20 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland. Solutions including the UnionPay App, QR code e-wallets, and OEM pay products provide convenient mobile payment services for overseas residents. The transaction volume of these wallets doubled year-on-year in the first half of this year. At present, one in five transactions of UnionPay cards issued outside the Chinese mainland goes through mobile payment tools.