UnionPay QR code payments to be launched across all six AsiaMalls shopping centres in 2018

ASIAMALLS Management and UnionPay International have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) which will see the acceptance of UnionPay QR code payments across all six AsiaMalls shopping centres in Singapore beginning in 2018.

The UnionPay QR code payments will allow merchant discounts and payment transactions to be processed with a scan of a customer's QR code, both companies said in a joint media release on Monday.

Billed as the first large-scale partnership in Singapore between a mall manager and a global payment brand to deploy QR code payments, the deal between the two companies will be rolled out across all six AsiaMalls-managed shopping centres of Hougang Mall, Liang Court, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Tampines 1, White Sands and Century Square when it reopens in 2018.

The QR code will tap into the existing payment infrastructure used by AMperkz, AsiaMall's rewards programme.

AsiaMalls' UnionPay QR code payments is also compatible with the common, nation-wide QR code for cashless payments in Singapore that will be rolled out by 2018.

UnionPay International is a member of the taskforce, co-led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Infocomm Media Development Authority, which developed the Singapore Quick Response Code (SG QR). MAS said last week that payment service providers are currently developing a governance process for multiple payment schemes to be consolidated into SG QR.

"With the nation's move towards a cashless society, we saw the opportunity for AsiaMalls to anticipate our shopper's wants and expectations, and to provide them with all the conveniences possible, by equipping our merchants with the ability to accept UnionPay's QR Code payment option. This would allow the stores to expand their clientele base, and in time, enable them to be fully integrated and ready for the Smart Nation roll-out," said AsiaMalls Management managing director Tan Kee Yong.

Cai Jianbo, chief executive of UnionPay International, said the cooperation would help establish acceptance of the UnionPay QR code on a sizeable scale in Singapore, and help issuers like Bank of China Singapore branch and other local partners introduce "more usage applications and promotions using the e-wallet platform in future".