Jetco adds Unionpay card support to Hong Kong mobile payments platform

Mainland Chinese payment services provider Unionpay will partner with Hong Kong cash machine operator Jetco to provide tap-and-go mobile payments, the companies announced this week.

Speaking at an event in Hong Kong, Jetco chief executive Angus Choi said the company's Quickpass near-field communications (NFC) platform for contactless transactions will support Unionpay Quickpass credit cards later this year. The system currently supports Visa and Mastercard, enabling users to swipe their mobile phones to pay for goods and services.

Launched in early 2015, the "all-in-one SIM" works across various smartphone operating systems. Payments are currently capped at HK$500 per transaction.

Jetco and Unionpay are also building a remote mobile online payment service in Hong Kong which is set to launch later in the year. The service will allow users to conduct peer-to-peer transactions once they have linked their mobile phone number to their bank accounts.

To send money, the sender simply has to enter the recipient’s phone number in a mobile app and the transaction happens instantaneously.

When asked if the app would provide similar functions to Tenpay, which allows users to send money through the messaging app Wechat, Choi said that Jetco will offer “basic functions for now” but did not rule out including other more advanced features in the future.