UnionPay partners with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) in the UAE

By Edil Corneille

China’s UnionPay International (UPI) has partnered with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) to enable the UnionPay card and contactless payment transactions on the bank’s 15,000 near field communications (NFC) terminals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

As a safer payment method during the COVID-19 pandemic, UnionPay International has been pushing for contactless and online payments solutions in the region and throughout the globe as part of its efforts to protect consumers at the checkout.

All of the bank’s point of sale (POS) terminals have been enabled to provide a contactless payment service. The bank’s 15,000 NFC terminals are spread across many industries and service types including hospitals, hotels, government, supermarkets and everything in between. The payment services available include UnionPay contactless payment through UnionPay chip cards and Mobile QuickPass payment interfaces such as Apple Pay and Huawei Pay. Also, the limit for contactless payment has been increased to AED500 to encourage wider usage amidst the current pandemic situation.

Developments like these, to increase the ease and accessibility of online and contactless payments, are some of the primary methods with which UnionPay International has been tackling the virus infection at the checkout around the world.

On the other hand, UnionPay International continues extending more convenience and benefits to local partners. To help ease the financial pressure of merchants impacted by the pandemic, UnionPay has implemented policies to increase the chargeback window for the local merchants that will provide more flexibility.

In partnership with more than 2300 institutions worldwide, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 179 countries and regions with issuance in 61 countries and regions.

ADIB is an Islamic bank with more than AED 122 billion in assets. Established in 1997, the bank provides Sharia’a-compliant retail, corporate, business, private banking and wealth management solutions through digital channels and an extensive branch network.