UnionPay International and Thai Bankers Association signed Chip Card Standard License Agreement in Bangkok on Tuesday.
According to the agreement, the chip card standard of UnionPay will be introduced to local banks as the standard of Thailand's banking industry. Thailand has become the first overseas nation which adopts UnionPay standard as its local uniform chip card standard.
Cai Jianbo, CEO of UnionPay International, and Kobsak Duangdee, secretary-general of Thai Bankers Association, signed this agreement on behalf of the two sides.
Ge Huayong, chairman of UnionPay International, said at the ceremony that the signing of the agreement will enable Thai residents to enjoy safe and convenient payment experiences of" UnionPay Chip" in their home country and the global UnionPay network, which also plays a demonstrative role for the chip upgrade in other markets.
Ge said, UnionPay chip card standard, compatible with the international EMV standard, is an international standard featuring security, convenience and rich application.
He said overseas chip migration of acceptance terminals outside of Chinese mainland is in progress and UnionPay composite cards with both chips and magnetic stripes are basically accepted worldwide. UnionPay Quick Pass is an innovative service of contactless payment based on the chip card and consumers can pay quickly at over 5 million Quick Pass terminals worldwide.
Addressing the ceremony, Tongurai Limpiti, vice governor of Bank of Thailand, said the cooperation on the local chip card standard between UnionPay International and Bank of Thailand and Thai Bankers Association is an important groundwork which will benefit financial cooperation of the two countries.
Kobsak said he hopes that Thailand's services of the payment industry will be further promoted with the help of the UnionPay's global acceptance network and the leading innovation technology.
Now UnionPay cards can be used in nearly all ATMs and almost 70 percent of merchants including large department stores, airports and downtown duty-free shops, convenient stores, chain supermarkets, hotels and tourist attractions in Thailand. The 10 ASEAN member countries have also accepted and issued UnionPay cards.
