UnionPay and Mashreq Bank partner to increase online card acceptance in the UAE

The new partnership is in line with the rise in online trading observed across the nation

Dubai, UAE, 05 November 2017:  With online trading on the rise in the UAE, global payment network UnionPay International and Mashreq Bank have announced a collaboration to ensure UnionPay cards are accepted on all online merchants of Mashreq Bank. 

Research conducted by Payfort, an Amazon company, indicates that the region’s online transaction rates have increased by 22 percent with the UAE increasing by 21 percent in 2016. The research also revealed that the UAE led in terms of the dollar value of online transactions across the Middle East at USD12.4 billion. 

The newly launched UPOP (UnionPay Online Payment) service will provide existing customers of UnionPay with a secure and efficient online payment solution in line with the company’s vision to increase global connectivity. 

2017 has been a very exciting time for the UAE’s e-commerce industry with Amazon entering through Souq.com earlier this year and, more recently, the launch of what is expected to be the next e-shopping giant in the country; noon.com. With these developments and many more from both the private and public sector, a further rise in online transactions is expected. With this collaboration between UnionPay International and Mashreq Bank, UnionPay cardholders are able to access a wide network of online payments, enjoying further enhanced shopping experience in the UAE. 

“The UAE is a significant hub that connects the East and the West. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, many Chinese people are willing to visit the UAE, bring more demands for cross-border payment services. In view of this trend, UnionPay is committed to strengthening its cooperation with the major institutions in the UAE to jointly offer more payment options for our customers, improve payment service capacity, and support the economic and financial cooperation as well as personnel exchanges between the two countries. UnionPay has done quite a lot exploration in payment innovation and is willing to carry out cooperation in the fields of online payment and QR Code payment with partners in the UAE.” said Chen Zhi, Vice Chairman, China UnionPay.

Mashreq Bank is one of the largest Card Acceptance Service Providers in the UAE. The Bank’s e-commerce solution ensures the highest security standards with cutting-edge technology such as Tokenisation; converting sensitive data into a non-sensitive equivalent. The technology also incorporates smart dynamic routing allowing transactions to be diverted to alternative gateways to avoid failed online transactions. 

Subroto Som, Head of Retail Banking Group of Mashreq Bank added, “Over the past few years, customers in the UAE have grown their trust in online shopping platforms and are shifting more of their purchases to the online space, making it important for all card providers to ensure their products are accepted online. We are pleased to continue our work with UnionPay to spread our merchant services, allowing customers to access our leading solutions and services. Mashreq has been at the forefront of financial technology in the UAE since the very beginning in efforts to stay relevant in the fast-paced industry of banking. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with UnionPay to increase the reach of the latest in banking technology across the country.” 

UnionPay and Mashreq Bank have a longstanding relationship spanning almost 10 years, with Mashreq being one of the first banks in the region to accept UnionPay issued credit and debit cards through its ATM and POS network in 2007. Earlier this year, the two parties partnered to launch QuickPass in the UAE; UnionPay’s secure and efficient proprietary contactless payment service.