Jaywan Cards Move Toward China Pilot Through UnionPay

The UAE's Jaywan card scheme is moving into an overseas acceptance test with UnionPay in mainland China, Economy Middle East reported, citing WAM.

The pilot gives Al Etihad Payments a route to test mono-badged Jaywan cards outside the UAE before broader international expansion.

UnionPay International will provide the acceptance rails, while Bank of China's Abu Dhabi branch will support settlement for cross-border transactions.

The package signed in Shanghai covers three connected workstreams.

One memorandum links UnionPay with the Central Bank of the UAE on national QR-code interoperability.

A second agreement connects UnionPay with Al Etihad Payments for Jaywan acceptance through UnionPay's network.

A third arrangement brings UnionPay International's Middle East branch together with Bank of China in Abu Dhabi for transaction settlement.

During the mainland China pilot, mono-badged Jaywan cards would be accepted at participating UnionPay merchants without a co-badged international card.

The arrangement keeps settlement and acceptance within the signed pilot before any wider rollout.

QR payments form a second workstream.

UnionPay will provide technical and consulting support on specifications, security frameworks and onboarding rules for participating institutions, while the agreements also cover local-currency settlement across card and QR channels.

The agreement extends a recent buildout of the UAE scheme's domestic and international rails.

The rollout plan calls for major issuers to support UnionPay-Jaywan cards, and the first successful co-badged transaction was completed in November 2025.

Al Etihad Payments, the Central Bank subsidiary that also operates UAESWITCH, manages the national card infrastructure.

A separate July agreement between Al Etihad Payments and Mastercard covers a co-badged credit card and a UAE operations centre for domestic and international processing, switching, fraud prevention and cybersecurity.

The UnionPay package adds China acceptance and QR interoperability to that existing international track.

The China pilot connects domestic UAE payment infrastructure to a foreign merchant network, QR standards and bank settlement without requiring a separate co-badged card during the trial.

Participating merchants and issuers will handle authorisation, reconciliation, customer support and disputes within that limited lane.

The next proof point is usage.

The partners still have to move from memorandums and pilot availability to transaction volumes, issuer participation and merchant coverage that demonstrate whether Jaywan can become a routine payment option beyond the UAE.