City Bank, Compass Plus bring American Express, Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay in one QR code

By Edil Corneille

City Bank has launched an interoperable QR code payments solution in Bangladesh, in partnership with Compass Plus. This collaboration is expected to transpire into making the lives easier for consumers and merchants in the country. The new solution brings together 4 key international payments networks – American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay – in one QR code.

“We are constantly seeking new ways of making the lives of our customers and merchants easier and more convenient – and the launch of our QR code payments solution does that,” said Mashrur Arefin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at City Bank. “Compass Plus has played a major part in the development of the solution. From early discussions regarding our plan, to their expertise in ensuring all development work to support the networks’ QR codes was completed and working seamlessly, we are proud to have such a knowledgeable, long-standing partner on board.”

Consumers will no longer have to scan different QR codes at the checkout depending on the payment network and card they wish to use. Merchants will now only have to display one QR code in-store as opposed to 4. This solution also caters to foreign customers travelling to Bangladesh.

“As one of the largest banks in Bangladesh, City Bank is both progressive and innovative. It is great to be involved in making their vision of ensuring digital payments are more widely accessible a reality. Bringing four international payments networks under one roof was a big job, but we are pleased to be a part of this solution, which really is something special,” said Igor Simonov, AVP, Business Development and Sales Manager, Asia Pacific at Compass Plus.

QR based payments enable contactless payments through a single point digital solution and do not be required different plastic cards to perform transactions in-store. This holds significance considering the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. For numerous merchants, QR becomes an asset-light, low-cost acceptance solution with which they can start accepting digital payments quickly.

City Bank is said to be one of the largest banks in Bangladesh, with a 35 per cent market share of credit cards.