UnionPay International (UPI) has launched a new Content & Service Platform (UCSP), establishing a "Pay+" digital ecosystem in partnership with global financial institutions and industry service providers.
The platform offers value-added services to enhance user experience for digital wallets developed or upgraded to UnionPay standards; allowing institutions outside of mainland China to provide instant payment for utilities, transport, lifestyle and entertainment.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, digital payment services have played an essential role in slowing the spread of the virus by reducing the risk of person-to-person transmission. To strengthen this, UPI has expedited the launch of its Content & Service Platform to provide a fast, convenient and secure cashless payment solution for 62 digital wallets developed or upgraded to UnionPay standards in 13 countries and territories.
The UPI Content & Service Platform aims to offer a comprehensive range of technical resources for the evolving mobile payment and lifestyle landscape outside mainland China. Making available more value-added services, the platform will serve as an essential tool for digital wallets to maintain their competitive advantages and industry service providers can enlarge their distribution channels to increase user traffic. Meanwhile, global users can access multiple services seamlessly through one single mobile application.
To date, services provided by hundreds of merchants and service providers in public utilities, taxi-hailing, flight and hotel booking are accessible globally via the platform. Once linked, these services will be available in up to two weeks.
With the innovative collaboration model in place, UPI has boosted efficiency for wallet developers, merchants and industry service providers. UPI selects partners from industry subdivisions to establish a "service pool", which digital wallet developers can choose interested merchants to link to the system through an integrated application programming interface (API), streamlining the process while significantly reducing technical requirements. In Hong Kong, the “UnionPay” app is the first mobile app to launch nine online payment services for public utilities and lifestyle services via UCSP, facilitating the quick adoption of local social distancing and public health measures in response to COVID-19.
In the future, UnionPay International will continue to update the platform by providing more and better value-added services, including big data analysis, to support the optimization of partner institutions membership systems and consumer behavior analytics.
In recent years, UnionPay International has accelerated the construction and update of its technical platforms, strengthening its digital mobile payment service capabilities for its partners. At present, UnionPay International has built more than 20 technical platforms and multiple solutions. Through UPI Developer, an integrated open platform, for instance, institutions and independent developers can obtain guidance and join UnionPay's cross-border payment ecosystem with greater efficiency.