UnionPay International, Keenu and Bank AL Habib Jointly Launch Contactless Payments Acceptance For The First Time In Pakistan

UnionPay International, Wemsol Private Limited and Bank AL Habib jointly announce today the launch of UnionPay QuickPass (NFC/Contactless and HCE) acceptance on Keenu POS terminals in Pakistan, where consumers can make safe and quick payments by tapping their UnionPay cards at KEENU POS terminals at more than 7,000 merchant locations in Pakistan. This is the first time any payment scheme, Fintech and Bank has rolled out this service in the Pakistan market to bring more convenient and secure payment experience to customers.

UnionPay QuickPass is an innovative contactless payment solution which is aiming to mainstream the use of tap&go payments. The solution is compatible with the EMV specifications, and is interoperable globally. It allows UnionPay cardholders to seamlessly transact via NFC-enabled cards, HCE-enabled mobile apps & smartphones at multitude of merchant locations, ranging from grocery stores, supermarkets, departmental stores, restaurants and many more. With Fintechs like Keenu, whose entire POS terminal network is contactless enabled, local customers in Pakistan as well as visitors will be able to enjoy UnionPay QuickPass service, which is likely to change how payments take place in Pakistan.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a shift in the paradigm of what was considered to be the norm, especially for how payments are being made. WHO has been advocating the use of cashless payments; and contactless payments globally have started to boom. According to the report issued by RTi Research, 30% of consumers have started using contactless payment methods since COVID-19 started, and 70% of those who are new to contactless payments report that they will continue to use this payment method after the pandemic has died down.^[1]

In response to this need for a safer payment solution, UnionPay has enabled the acceptance of its QuickPass/contactless payments in the Pakistan market together with its Fintech partner Keenu and its long-time partner Bank AL Habib as the safer alternative to conventional payments. This partnership not only allows customers to make cleaner, safer and quicker way of payments, but also help local merchants to enhance their service capability to customers.

Han Wang, General Manager of UnionPay International Middle East Region, said, “As the bankcard scheme with the largest number of cards issued, we at UnionPay are committed to providing payment ease to our cardholders worldwide. We believe this partnership will bring more benefits to both customers, merchants and the payment ecosystem in Pakistan.”

Saad Niazi, COO of Wemsol said, “We are honoured and delighted that Keenu is the first merchant acquirer in Pakistan to roll out QuickPass. We strongly believe contactless payments will be instrumental in bringing true digital payments disruption in Pakistan.”

Syed Amir Raza from Bank AL Habib has mentioned that, bank has always strived to promote digital payment technologies & solutions, that not only bring convenience to customers, also enhance the customer experience specially in this Covid-19 pandemic.