UnionPay has been an international payment brand recognised by local consumers and institutions. UnionPay International recently announced that the partnership to issuing the first ever 300,000 payroll cards and student cards in Africa with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), the largest bank in East-Africa region. Cai Jianbo, CEO of UnionPay International, and Samuel Makome, COO of KCB Group, attended the card issuance ceremony.
As a significant participant of One Belt and One Road intitiative in Africa, the acceptance rate of UnionPay cards in Kenya has nearly reach to 100%. Recently, UnionPay International has accelerated its growth and established cooperation with major local banks in terms of the card issuance in Kenya. With KCB, jointly issued a variety of UnionPay card products, more than 100,000 in number. Previously in the last China Import and Export Fair, UnionPay International teamed up with KCB to issue the world’s first “One Belt and One Road” Commercial card. The new issuance of the KCB UnionPay student card and payroll card are both IC cards, which enable contactless and e-commerce payment. More than 20 Kenyan schools and universities will accept this card as a tool for tuition payment and other transactions in campus.
“This collaboration will expand the service scope of UnionPay cards in Kenya to more local employees, students, and other local customers. It will promote UnionPay’s brand influence locally”, said CAI Jianbo, the CEO of UnionPay International. He added, considering the booming trend of mobile payment in Kenya, UnionPay will leverage the global network of more than 7 billion cards issuance around the world and the international payment standards, to complement the advantages of local institutions in electronic payment space, and optimise mobile payment user experience for visitors and local cardholders.
Kenya has a well-developed mobile payment market environment that sets trends for other African markets. The cooperation with KCB brings convenient usage on UnionPay apps. UnionPay International will also deepen cooperation with KCB to expand mobile payment scenarios with mobile wallet products. Samuel Makome, the COO of KCB Group, said that “the demand for high quality financial product in Kenya has grown in recent years. This cooperation with UnionPay further enriches the system which enables local consumers to enjoy safe and convenient UnionPay payment services. We will strive to realise this project as soon as possible”.
At present, 50 African countries accept UnionPay cards, and the overall coverage has reached more than 75%. 11 countries, including Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, have issued UnionPay cards such as high-end cards, business cards, and Asian travel cards.
