UnionPay Mobile QuickPass Debuts in South Europe

This winter, UnionPay cardholders will be able to purchase tickets at the Acropolis by tapping their mobile phones. UnionPay International announced today that through its cooperation with Piraeus Bank, the largest bank group in Greece, UnionPay cardholders will be able to pay by tapping UnionPay chip cards with the QuickPass signage or QuickPass-enabled mobile phones at over 50,000 merchants of the Bank by year-end. All these POS terminals also accept no-PIN no-signature small-sum payment with UnionPay cards. This is the first time that UnionPay mobile QuickPass service is launched in South Europe.

In view of the change of customers’ payment habits, UnionPay International has been speeding up to roll-out its Mobile QuickPass service outside mainland China. So far, more than 600,000 POS terminals outside the Chinese Mainland accept UnionPay Mobile QuickPass, covering over 10 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Canada and Russia. During this year’s Chinese National Day Holiday, the transaction number of UnionPay Mobile QuickPass outside mainland China doubled year-on-year.

UnionPay International has reached cooperation with all the four major banks in Greece. It is expected that within this year, UnionPay will be accepted at almost all ATMs and over 80% of POS terminals in Greece. This partnership between UnionPay International and Piraeus Bank will first realize the acceptance of UnionPay Mobile QuickPass at merchants in popular tourist destinations like Athens and Santorini, covering attractions, department stores, duty-free shops, restaurants (including Michelin-starred restaurants) and souvenir stores. Cardholders can not only tap and pay with UnionPay chip cards and their mobile phones at these merchants, but also enjoy no-PIN no-signature payment when spending no more than 25 Euros, enjoying an easier and smoother payment experience.

In Europe, UnionPay is accepted at more than 2.3 million merchants across 39 countries and regions. The UnionPay-accepting merchants in Europe take up half of all the merchants that accept bankcards. Recently, UnionPay International also cooperated with Global Blue to further upgrade its tax-refund service in Europe. The two jointly expand the Early Tax Refund service from countries like Germany, Italyand the UK to France. With this service, cardholders are able to use UnionPay credit cards as aguarantee after shopping, and directly get tax refunds in-store or at the downtown outlets of Global Blue.