UnionPay International (UPI) announced its partnership with the Korea Easy Payment Foundation and BC Card to enable the merchants of ZeroPay, a local mobile payment service provider in South Korea, to accept UnionPay QR codes. This partnership enables UnionPay cardholders visiting the country to make QR payments with their UnionPay App at the merchants accepting ZeroPay. In the future, this new offering will be extended to more e-wallets that support the enrollment of UnionPay cards.
In recent years, UnionPay has become a payment brand recognized by the industry, well-known to merchants and popular among consumers in South Korea through its refining acceptance network as well as its growing capabilities to service local customers. At present, almost all merchants in the country accept UnionPay cards. The constantly optimizing card usage environment not only provides a seamless payment experience for visiting UnionPay cardholders, but also attracts an increasing number of local residents to apply for and use UnionPay cards. So far, over 50 million cards have been issued in South Korea. Building on this, UPI has collaborated with organizations such as KB Card, Shinhan Card, Hana Card, Nonghyup Bank, Danal and Tmoney to enable UnionPay mobile payment services in local wallets. As a result, consumers only need to link or apply for UnionPay cards in these local wallets to enjoy easy payments at merchants across the world that accept UnionPay mobile payments.
ZeroPay is a local wallet product operated by the Korea Easy Payment Foundation, covering a large number of small and medium-sized merchants in South Korea. Thanks to this tripartite cooperation, the coverage of UnionPay services in the country will be further improved, allowing these merchants to provide more convenient contactless payment offerings for inbound consumers and enhance their capabilities to service international business travelers.
At present, UnionPay’s acceptance network has extended to 181 countries and regions, and more than half of them accept UnionPay mobile payment. At the same time, UnionPay cards have been issued in more than 70 countries and regions outside the Chinese mainland, 30 of which have launched over 140 UnionPay-powered e-wallet products including the UnionPay App.
