News from the Wire

First Data forms strategic alliances in China, Hong Kong

Friday, October 09, 2015 — 13:28:57 (EDT)

Shanghai and Hong Kong, Oct. 8, 2015 – First Data Corporation, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, today announced three strategic agreements to service the fast growing prepaid gift card, travel card and mobile prepaid sectors of China and Hong Kong. The agreements are part of First Data’s transformation strategy to expand beyond traditional payment service offerings to provide next generation payment capabilities to companies of all sizes.

HKT, 33 Finance and HNA Transforex each signed multi-year agreements with First Data to enable mobile payment services, prepaid transaction card systems and issuing and processing services, respectively.

“We are very pleased that HKT, 33 Financial Services and HNA Transforex are leveraging our state-of-the-art VisionPLUS® platform and geographic footprint to provide next generation payments solutions to meet their customers’ digital needs,” said Lee Boon Huat, Vice President of Financial Services Sales, First Data Asia Pacific. “These agreements reinforce our strategy to become the trusted partner for businesses looking to grow digital payment capabilities in the region,” he said.

With today’s announcement, First Data provides HKT, Hong Kong’s largest telecommunications company, with the ability to link prepaid and loyalty accounts to each of their customers’ SIM cards. This enables HKT customers to pay for goods and services and redeem points on their NFC-enabled mobile phones via a mobile wallet called Tap & Go.

Ease of payments will factor increasingly into the rapidly growing China outbound tourism market which in 2014 was estimated to have totaled 116 million tourists with an associated US$155 billion in travel spending. As a result of this projected growth, more businesses are looking to provide outbound tourists with improved transaction conveniences and customer experiences.

33 Financial Services, the financial arm of railway media provider China 33 Media Group Limited, is one such forward-looking business and with First Data expertise, is offering a prepaid transaction card system. Targeted to students and tourists traveling from mainland China to Hong Kong, the system allows for convenient and fast overseas transactions in Hong Kong.

In addition to these payment capabilities, HNA Tourism, the travel and payments arm of multi-business conglomerate HNA Group, is also expanding payment service offerings by providing outbound tourists from China with safe and convenient electronic traveller’s cheques.

As part of today’s agreement, First Data is implementing issuing and processing services for HNA Transforex, HNA Tourism’s money exchange and traveler cheque subsidiary. HNA Transforex expects to issue 500,000 to 700,000 electronic traveller’s cheques in the first year, with a goal of increasing issuance rates by 15 per cent year-on-year for the next three years.

Today’s three strategic agreements serve as a foundation for continued expansion in China and Hong Kong by First Data and will enable global clients to improve their customer experiences, address individual market needs and reduce operational costs.

About First Data First Data is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology and solutions, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in 118 countries around the world. The company’s 23,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the world’s largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 2,300 transactions per second and $1.9 trillion per year.

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Source: Company press release.