Huawei and UnionPay tie up for global road trip

Huawei has signed a cooperation agreement with UnionPay International to add fuel to the worldwide rollout of Huawei Pay.

The partnership itself will focus on improving the experience for users, but also adapting the platform for international markets. Right now the platform is focused on the Chinese markets, but Huawei has never kept such streamlined ambitions for long with its other products, why should this be any different?

“Open sharing is an important direction for the future of the digital economy and intellectual interconnection, which is why Huawei’s end-user cloud services built an open and globalized smart mobile ecosystem for the end-user experience,” said Alex Zhang, President of Huawei Consumer Cloud Service.

“Huawei hopes to work with partners such as UnionPay International to provide more secure and convenient mobile payment services for every user of Huawei smart devices around the world.”

Huawei Pay is currently only available in China, supported by 66 banks and is compatible with 20 mobile devices, including various mobile phones and smart watches. This number is likely to increase, as are the number of users, owing to the success of Huawei in cracking new international markets. Huawei has successfully negotiated the stereotype of Chinese products being inferior, with its lofty position in the global smartphone market share ranking offering an excellent springboard for additional services.

“UnionPay International carries out extensive cooperation with various players in the payment industry to integrate the advantages of each party,” said Larry Wang, Vice President of UnionPay International. “This cooperation with Huawei is of great significance.

“Firstly, with this agreement, the two sides realize cooperation on a global scale, and issuers outside mainland China can now launch Huawei Pay Pay-as-you-go once connected to the UnionPay Mobile Service Platform, which greatly saves time and costs. Secondly, UnionPay’s innovative products are an important propeller for the business localization of the two parties, and it supports payment upgrades in more countries and regions. Thirdly, cooperation between the two giants will jointly enhance the global influence of China’s independent mobile payment apps.”

Russia will be first on Huawei Pay’s global tour, with UnionPay offering an excellent foot into the market. Currently, UnionPay bank cards are accepted at 85% of POS terminals and ATMs in Russia, while 10 Russian banks have issued about 1.3 million UnionPay bank cards to date. After Russia, the pair will continue the road through Eastern Europe.