UnionPay, VNPAY, ECPay Bringing Contactless QR Code Payments to Vietnam

Card acceptance firm UnionPay is collaborating with financial services company VNPay and payments platform ECPay to give shoppers in Vietnam the ability to make contactless Quick Response (QR) Code payments at over 60,000 merchants.

Huiming Cai, general manager, UnionPay International (UPI) Southeast Asia, said in a press release on Tuesday (Dec. 28) that being in Vietnam is a “significant milestone” for the company.

“As the first global payment network to deploy QR Code for payments nationwide, this affirms our commitment to bringing innovative payment solutions to the country to enable greater convenience, security and ease of payment for both consumers and merchants,” Cai said.

He added that the company saw firsthand how the pandemic created a big demand for QR Codes and other contactless payments, so it was “able to respond quickly to this changing payment need of our customers in Vietnam.”

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UnionPay’s QR Code will be deployed at close to 15,000 merchants all over Vietnam, adding to the existing 45,000 retail network that already accept the payment type. The release notes that merchants of all sizes are already using UnionPay QR Code payments, including convenience stores, supermarkets, electric services and more.

The nationwide deployment for the EMV-compliant payments QR Code was initially launched in Vietnam by UnionPay in 2018 as preparation for new products and services.

To draw more UnionPay QR Code transactions, UPI offered an instant 10% off campaign at VNPAY’s merchants, including “familiar names like Luôn Tươi Sạch, Medicare, Sói Biển, Sữa Tươi, TH True Mart and more,” according to the release.

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At the end of last year, 600,000 Vietnamese customers were the recipients of UnionPay’s first Virtual Debit Card via a partnership with Military Bank (MB).

Through a partnership with Military Bank last year, 600,000 Vietnamese customers received UnionPay’s first Virtual Debit Card, which the release says is “its largest issuance in the market.”

Nguyễn Ánh Tuyết, head of Northern Business of VNPAY, said that the company is among the largest “QR Code for payment merchant acquirers in Vietnam.”

“17 of our top merchants with a network of over 1,200 stores all over Vietnam is participating in UnionPay QR Code promotion,” Tuyết said in the release. “Like UPI, we believe that increased usage at everyday merchants is the best way to drive adoption of innovative payments like QR Code as it is habit-forming.”