Singapore's DBS Bank and UnionPay International have signed an agreement that will enable users of the bank's debit mobile payment app DBS PayLah! to use their mobile wallet overseas for cross-border QR code payments.
Through the agreement, the more than one million DBS PayLah! users will soon be able to make payment at close to 10 million UnionPay QR code merchants in 24 countries and regions, including Australia, China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and USA.
Singaporeans are among the most well-travelled in the world with over 9.8 million overseas trips made in 2017 alone. With this partnership, users of Singapore’s most popular mobile wallet DBS PayLah! will see an exponential growth in the number of payment acceptance points across the world.
“Our partnership with UnionPay International marks an exciting development for the future of e-payments in Singapore. Being able to pay internationally using DBS PayLah! QR codes brings us one step closer to our vision of providing a truly universal mobile wallet that can meet consumers’ everyday needs, even while they’re overseas,” said Tan Su Shan, group head of dbs wealth management and consumer banking.
“With QR code payments gaining in popularity across Singapore – we record some 1.2 million QR code transactions in Singapore each month – and its ubiquity across China, and increasingly across Asia, the agreement will provide endless cross-border synergies for DBS PayLah! users and UnionPay customers alike.”
“As a global payment brand that connects businesses, consumers and financial institutions through digital payments across 170 countries and regions, UnionPay is delighted to extend our collaboration with DBS Bank to enable cross-border QR code payments for DBS PayLah! users,” added UnionPay International Southeast Asia GM Wenhui Yang.
“We are committed to continue introducing innovative payment services like QR Code for payments in Singapore, adding value and enhancing payment experiment for local consumers. DBS PayLah! users can simply travel with their mobile wallet to make seamless and convenient QR Code payments overseas without the hassle of exchanging foreign currencies in the future.”
First published in FinTech Innovation