Origami Partners With UnionPay For Global Expansion; Aircoach Rolls Out Contactless Payments

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. In Japan, Origami rolls out its international Origami Pay mobile service, Moody’s lauds the debut of a unified payment QR code in Singapore and Ireland’s Aircoach launches contactless payments on its busses.

Japan’s Origami plans to debut its Origami Pay mobile service to outlets in other countries through an international partnership with UnionPay International Co., Ltd (UPI), the company said in an announcement. Through the arrangement, Origami Pay will be accepted at roughy 7.5 million UnionPay QR code-enabled outlets in 24 different countries, and UnionPay’s QR payments will be available at Origami’s partner shops in Japan. In a statement, Origami said, “the alliance with UPI allows both Japanese users traveling abroad and inbound users visiting Japan to make secure and convenient payments at a wide range of shops without worrying about currency exchange.”

In Singapore, a unified payment QR code premieres — the “world’s first,” Business Times reported. Credit rating agency Moody’s said the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR) could encourage adoption of mobile payments by both retailers and consumers. In addition, the report said the debut is “credit positive” for the largest three banks in the country, which are DBS, OCBC and UOB. Moody’s said, “the mobile payment schemes of the three Singapore banks have the widest market reach among the 27 mobile payment scheme operators in Singapore … the banks will benefit from wider public acceptance and usage as the SGQR code rolls out.”

In other news, Ireland’s Aircoach has introduced contactless payments for customers on its busses, the Irish Examiner reported. The company is also accepting mobile payments via Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Aircoach Managing Director Dervla McKay told the paper: “Aircoach is always looking for ways to improve our customers’ travel experience, and contactless — together with the dual currency option it offers — means they can now board our coaches with a simple tap of their card or device.”