BC Card Partners with UnionPay to Offer Global Payment Services for Domestic Small Businesses

Chinese Visitors to Korea Can Use QR Payments at ZeroPay Merchants Without Physical Cards

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] BC Card announced on the 15th that it has decided to provide global payment services to domestic small business owners in collaboration with UnionPay International and the Korea Simple Payment Promotion Agency. Accordingly, from this day forward, Chinese visitors to Korea can easily make payments without a physical card by scanning the QR code placed at domestic Zero Pay affiliated stores using UnionPay's simple payment application.

Since introducing UnionPay-branded payment services domestically for the first time in 2004, BC Card has been a key partner maintaining a close cooperative relationship, playing a role in linking QR code-based payment services between Zero Pay affiliated stores and UnionPay. As a result, domestic small business owners can expand existing overseas simple payment methods, which were limited to cash and account transfers, to include credit and debit cards.

A BC Card official stated, "As we enter the post-COVID-19 era, domestic tourism from Asia, including China, is expected to become active. By supporting QR code-based payment methods familiar to overseas tourists, small business owners can effectively respond to the digital environment and are expected to gain momentum in recovering tourism sales that had been stagnant due to COVID-19."

In fact, an analysis of payment data generated in Korea from 2011 to 2019 by BC Card showed that UnionPay brand members contributed to an annual increase in tourism industry sales of up to 6.2 trillion KRW.

Meanwhile, since both BC Card and the Korea Simple Payment Promotion Agency have led domestic QR payment services, the two organizations plan to continuously cooperate to build a QR code-based global payment infrastructure based on their technological capabilities and know-how.

Im Nam-hoon, Executive Director of BC Card's Global Business Division, said, "Through this collaboration, we have not only resolved the payment blind spots for foreign visitors to Korea but also strengthened the country's fintech competitiveness, thereby enhancing the status of so-called K-fintech. We will actively collaborate with more global payment partners in the future to provide more convenient and innovative payment experiences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.