Macau Pass has signed a letter of intent with Hungary’s Cardnet Group to usher in a cross-border payment system designed to make transactions between the two regions more efficient.
According to a Tuesday announcement from parent AGTech Holdings, the strategic partnership – the Bilateral Retail Interconnective Digital Gateway Ecosystem (BRIDGE) – seeks to explore “new opportunities and scenarios for Sino-European financial cooperation.”
Among the attendees of the ceremony marking the launch of the initiative was Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who described the potential in mobile payment cooperation with China as “immense”.
“China’s mobile payment technology is world-leading, and we look forward to seeing cross-border mobile payment applied more broadly in Hungary’s tourism and service industries,” he said in the announcement.
“The BRIDGE project, launched within the framework of the Digital Silk Road, will bring convenience to tourists from both countries and provide local merchants with more opportunities for digital transformation.”
Sun Ho, Director and CEO of Macau Pass Group Holdings, said: “The BRIDGE project, as its name suggests, aims to build a payment bridge connecting China and the world.”
Cardnet is a network of digital payment integrators and service providers for banks, retailers and merchants in Central and Eastern Europe and the Gulf region.
The BRIDGE project will initially cover tourism before expanding further to include retail, transport, and public services.
As per the latest company information, Macau Pass has so far issued five million smart cards, which are accepted at nearly 30,000 payment points across the city.
Its sub-brand mobile payment service MPay covers 90 per cent of the jurisdiction’s population.