UnionPay acceptance is enabled in the Dominican Republic

By Edlyn Cardoza

UnionPay International (UPI) announced its partnership with Cardnet, the Dominican Republic’s largest acquirer, to enable its acceptance at all Cardnet merchants. This is the first time UnionPay card services have been enabled in the country. With this, the reach of UnionPay’s acceptance network reaches 181 countries and regions and provides coverage for more than 37 million merchants outside of mainland China.

In recent years, UPI has intensified its efforts to expand and improve its overseas acceptance network, and the offline card usage environment has continued to be optimised. During the first half of this year, more than 1.7 million merchants outside mainland China enabled UnionPay’s acceptance, significantly improving the user experience in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The number of UnionPay online merchants increased to 22 million.

Mobile payment services are developing rapidly, with 13 million merchants in 95 countries and regions outside mainland China enabling UnionPay QR or Mobile QuickPass. The latest survey by Juniper Research, a British consultancy, revealed that UPI has become one of the world leaders in QR payments.

The Dominican Republic is one of the largest economies in the Caribbean region. The partnership with Cardnet enables nearly 30,000 POS terminals to accept UnionPay cards, increasing local acceptance coverage to almost 50% in a short period. In addition, it follows a focus on optimising the experience of cardholders in hotels, airports, retailers and food and beverage stores. The collaboration will meet the demand of business travelers to the country for essential purchases and facilitate people-to-people exchanges between China and the Dominican Republic.

With its strengths in the network, UPI strives to serve more international cardholders and support China’s mutual exchanges with the rest of the world. More than 190 million UnionPay cards have been issued in more than 70 countries and regions worldwide, among which 30 also launched 140 UnionPay-powered e-wallets that offer residents quality mobile payment services based on UnionPay cards.

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that UnionPay International and PostBank Uganda Ltd had announced an extension of their ongoing collaboration to further enhance digital financial inclusion in Uganda. The partnership between PostBank Uganda and UnionPay International was established in 2018 with a core objective of improving access to financial services and, ultimately, financial inclusion of Uganda’s previously unbanked or underbanked people.