UnionPay International and Pakistan’s HBL launch contactless cards

By Edil Corneille

China’s UnionPay and Pakistani bank HBL have partnered to launch contactless payment methods to further enhance the customer experience in terms of flexibility, convenience and efficiency for HBL’s customers.

HBL is a Founding Member of UnionPay International (UPI) since 2012 and holds a seat in UPI’s Middle East Regional Member Council. HBL is the largest issuer of UnionPay Cards in Pakistan & the Middle East Region and is one of the first Issuers in Pakistan to introduce UnionPay debit cards as the mainstream payment card brand. HBL UnionPay cards are now enabled for QuickPass and all new cards will be issued with it as default functionality.

UnionPay QuickPass is a contactless payment solution which is aiming to promote the use of “Tap n Pay” payments. The solution is compatible with the EMV specifications and interoperable globally. It allows HBL UnionPay cardholders to seamlessly transact via NFC-enabled POS and provides access to the multitude of merchant locations enabled with NFC Acceptance, ranging from grocery stores, supermarkets, fuel pumps, departmental stores and restaurants amongst others. All existing issued HBL UnionPay cards holders are already enabled for e-commerce online transactions.

UnionPay has mentioned that it is committed to providing secure and seamless payment experiences to its cardholders worldwide. According to HBL, it also has the largest Point of Sale (POS) network in Pakistan and continues to invest in expanding the payments infrastructure of the country.

HBL was established in Pakistan in 1947. It has over 1,700 branches and 2,100 ATMs globally, and over 27 million customers worldwide. The commercial bank has a global presence in over 15 countries across three continents.