On October 13, UnionPay International (UPI) and the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Hanoi. Both parties agree to deepen the collaboration on cross-border QR code interoperability and enable QR payments by UnionPay and Vietnamese local bank applications/e-wallets on each other’s networks, to enhance the experience of users from both countries. MDong Junfeng, chairman of UnionPay International, and Nguyen Quang Hung, BOD chairman of NAPAS, attended the signing ceremony.
Dong Junfeng said that UnionPay, as China’s important financial infrastructure and a leading global card scheme while improving its acceptance network, has been actively driving interoperability with payment networks in international markets to build an open and inclusive ecosystem. This partnership model has been widely implemented in ASEAN countries. The collaboration in Vietnam, as the latest achievement, will provide convenient payment services for the Chinese and Vietnamese as they travel across borders, help both countries promote the high-quality cooperation of the Belt and Road Initiative, and contribute to China’s high standard opening up.
On August 19, 2024, the central banks of China and Vietnam signed an MOU to further promote collaborative efforts in areas including cross-border payment interoperability. In line with this framework, UPI has been deepening collaboration with NAPAS and will open up the UnionPay network to Vietnamese wallets on a large scale. In the future, Vietnam’s local banking app and e-wallet users will be able to scan UnionPay QR for payment on China’s mainland.
The collaboration is significant in that it enhances UnionPay’s service capability to support both inbound and outbound payments, making payments easier for Vietnamese visitors to China. In addition, it helps drive the transformation of the payment industry in Vietnam by supporting local banking apps and e-wallets to expand their use not only domestically but also in the partner country. Moreover, it sets an example of payment network collaboration for the neighbouring countries and brings network linkages between China and ASEAN countries to a new level.
Network interoperability is UnionPay’s innovative collaboration model for QR networks, which allows UnionPay and its international partners to quickly enable mutual acceptance on a large scale through simple integration. The model has been widely recognized by international industry stakeholders since its launch. Up to now, UnionPay’s partnerships with QR code networks in South Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia and Laos have increased the number of UnionPay QR merchants to 8 million outside China’s mainland, proving to be increasingly effective as it scales up.
UnionPay’s acceptance network has been extended to 183 countries and regions. Outside China’s mainland, over 69 million online and physical merchants support UnionPay cards, and nearly 250 million UnionPay cards have been issued in 83 countries and regions. In Southeast Asia in particular, UnionPay has been enabled for over 90% of ATMs and POS terminals, and UnionPay mobile payment is available in all ten ASEAN countries. A total of nearly 50 million cards have been issued in the region and 30+ UnionPay-powered wallets launched. In Vietnam, more than 90% of merchant POS terminals take UnionPay cards, over 60,000 merchants support QR payments, and multiple local organisations have issued UnionPay cards on a large scale and launched UnionPay-powered wallets.
