WeChat Pay boosts UAE footprint with Network International
WeChat Pay is set for a boost in the UAE following an agreement between Tencent Holdings and UAE-based solutions provider Network International.
Network International will support WeChat Pay adoption in the UAE
Merchants partners of Network International in the Middle Eastern country will soon be able to deploy WeChat Pay-enabled terminals and services. Among these clients is Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping centres in the world.
Mall of the Emirates, another Dubai-based shopping centre, rolled out WeChat Pay facilities in February 2019.
WeChat Pay is the mobile payment service embedded in Chinese social messaging application WeChat, which has more than one billion registered users.
The total daily transaction volume via its mobile wallet service exceeded one billion in 2018. The firm reports a year-on-year growth in transaction volume of between 450 and 500%.
“We are excited to work with Tencent Holdings to offer WeChat Pay to our clients across the UAE,” says Paul Clarke, group head of product and innovation at Network International.
“Our agreement brings an incredible opportunity to the UAE’s retail and hospitality sectors, helping them cater to the growing demand from Chinese visitors.
“As a market leader in end-to-end payment solutions, we are delighted to enable our network of merchant partners in the UAE to keep pace with new technologies, offering them a competitive edge.”
Network International announced in March 2019 that it planned to float on the London Stock Exchange, and received a £300 million cornerstone investment from global payments firm Mastercard as a result.
Related: Dubai regulators sign fintech agreement with Luxembourg commission
As for fintech development in the UAE, the country’s central bank said last year that it is looking into the possibility of opening a new fintech office to support the country’s nascent financial services sector.
E20, a new digital business bank for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), launched in the UAE back in September 2019.
