Standard Chartered Unveils Digital Card Issuance; UnionPay Inks Cooperation Agreements

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Standard Chartered Bank’s unveiling of instant digital credit issuance in Singapore. In addition, Google has debuted a rewards points program for Google Play customers in South Korea, and UnionPay International (UPI) has come to cooperation agreements with institutions in six countries, including Indonesia and Thailand.

Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled instant digital credit issuance in Singapore to shorten the process of accessing a credit card, according to reports. While the company taps into technology that pre-populates many deals in the application form, clients who already have credit cards through the bank will have a less extensive form to fill out. Applicants can activate their cards after they attain immediate approval for their applications. They can then add their cards to wallets from Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay. “Most consumers these days, especially millennials, expect products, services and information to be easily and instantly available digitally,” said Natalia Goh, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore’s head of credit cards and personal loans.

In South Korea, Google has rolled out rewards points for customers who make in-app purchases in the Google Play store, ZDNet reported. Through the Google Play Points program, customers will receive one point for each 1,000 won made in purchases at the bronze tier. Users on the silver tier, however, will accumulate 1.1 points per 1,000 won, as well as six points for each 5,000 won spent. It was also reported that promotions will provide points for specific apps. South Korea will serve as the second country with the service, as Google Play Points first came to Japan in 2018.

And UnionPay International (UPI) inked cooperation agreements with institutions in six countries including Thailand and Indonesia, among others, according to an announcement. The agreements encompass the construction of local payment networks as well as UnionPay card issuance. The move, according to the report, “reflects the latest achievements of UPI to localize its business through multiple measures along the Belt and Road, and its support to personnel exchanges along this area.” The company claims that 106 Belt and Road regions and countries have UnionPay services, and that 31 regions and countries have the availability of Union Pay mobile payment services.