FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Integrated payments and marketing platform RiverPay Inc. today announced that its staged merchant acquisition initiative with China UnionPay is generating widespread traction in the North American retail industry. Since the launch of their strategic partnership in January this year, RiverPay has been expanding its payment portfolio through adding UnionPay QR code payments to all its merchants in the region.
RiverPay’s extensive technical capabilities and established merchant relationship covering mid-to-high end retail, food and beverage, groceries, baby products, etc., have resulted in hundreds of new merchants registering through RiverPay to accept UnionPay QR code payments in their offline stores. The merchants are generally reporting a marked increase in foot traffic and sales revenue from Chinese consumers who are increasingly linking their China-issued bank cards to the UnionPay mobile app.
“The convenience of the mobile app, combined with UnionPay’s deep-rooted financial relationship with Chinese consumers, is helping make it a preferred payments option for visitors to North America. We have seen a significant uptick in demand by our merchant partners to enable payments through UnionPay mobile app platform and we are pleased to so see many taking advantage of the easy-to-install and quick-to-settle benefits RiverPay can bring to their retail operations,” said Ryan Zheng, CEO and Co-founder of RiverPay.
Launched in December 2017, UnionPay’s mobile app surpassed 150 million users in April 2019 – less than 1.5 years since it joined the mobile payments battlefield. For merchants, the UnionPay mobile app is a key to unlocking the purchasing power of over 7.5 billion cards in China — but some are finding they need help in integrating this boom in potential dollars. That’s where payments enablers like RiverPay play a key role. As one of only a handful service providers actively promoting UnionPay QR code payments solution in the US and Canada in the early stage, RiverPay counts a large base of merchants who are now accepting payments through UnionPay mobile app.
“As we launched our mobile app and promoted QR code payment solution globally, UnionPay International has been committed to offering safe and smooth payment experience to hundreds of millions of UnionPay cardholders and app users, wherever they are in the world,” said Senior Executive of UnionPay International Americas. “The strides we have made in the North American markets are definitely uplifting with high customer acceptance rate and satisfaction. The credit also goes to our capable payment enabler partners like RiverPay, who has worked closely with us to expand UnionPay International’s presence and added tremendous value by leveraging its abundant payment integration experience and ability in bringing merchants on board. This partnership will not only make one of the most convenient payment options available for Chinese outbound tourists in their travel destinations, but also unlock the next chapter for the large base of US and Canadian merchants in tapping into the lucrative Chinese consumer market.”
With the latest integration of UnionPay QR Code payment enabled by RiverPay to their instore cashier systems and online platforms, merchants such as Toys R Us, Sporting Life, Swarovski, Colton’s Couture and JCY House can accept payment from consumers through simply scanning QR codes generated on UnionPay application. QR code is also a channel to integrate payment with marketing promotions, loyalty programs and other value-added services. To capture the Summer peak season for sales, over 50 retailers and the most popular Chinese restaurants in Toronto will join UnionPay’s coupon reimbursement promotion campaign starting from July, for all consumers using UnionPay app for payments.
UnionPay now owns twice as much market share as Visa and three times that of Mastercard in terms of cards issued, with a total card issuance of over 7.5 billion. UnionPay is now accepted in 174 countries and regions and is making a strong presence in North America and Europe, with its transactions accounting for more than 11 trillion USD in 2017.
About RiverPay (www.riverpayment.com)
RiverPay is an integrated payments and marketing platform to connect Chinese consumers with overseas merchants. As an authorized payment service provider of Alipay and WeChat Pay, RiverPay offers technology solutions and settlement services to allow Chinese consumers to pay in CNY and merchants to receive USD, CAD, GBP, EUR and more. RiverPay currently serves over 12,000 merchants across North America and Europe, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson’s Bay, Selfridges, Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Holland & Barrett, Prada, Dolce&Gabbana, Tiffany & Co., De Beers and Max Mara.
About UnionPay International (www.unionpayintl.com/en)
UnionPay International (UPI) is a subsidiary of China UnionPay focused on the growth and support of UnionPay's global business. In partnership with more than 2,000 institutions worldwide, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 174 countries and regions with issuance in 51 countries and regions. UnionPay International provides high quality, cost-effective and secure cross-border payment services to the world's largest cardholder base and ensures convenient local services to a growing number of global UnionPay cardholders and merchants.
