Telr partners Aleta Planet to connect Middle East businesses with Chinese consumers through UnionPay network
Telr partners Aleta Planet to connect Middle East businesses with Chinese consumers through UnionPay network. Telr and Aleta Planet to enable UnionPay e-commerce acceptance for thousands of merchants in UAE. Latest move marks a key milestone in Aleta Planet’s Middle East expansion. Partnership comes amid double-digit growth in Middle East e-commerce market.
- (1888PressRelease) March 29, 2021 - Telr partners Aleta Planet to connect Middle East businesses with Chinese consumers through UnionPay network
• Telr and Aleta Planet to enable UnionPay e-commerce acceptance for thousands of merchants in UAE
• Latest move marks a key milestone in Aleta Planet’s Middle East expansion
• Partnership comes amid double-digit growth in Middle East e-commerce market
Dubai-based Telr, a leading payment gateway provider in the Middle East, and Aleta Planet, a China-centric Singapore fintech, today announced a partnership to enable Telr’s merchants to accept UnionPay cards for e-commerce transactions.
The partnership with Telr marks a significant milestone for Aleta Planet as it looks to the Middle East to broaden its reach at a time when China-Middle East trade has soared and e-commerce in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) is growing at a double-digit rate.
Aleta Planet’s proprietary technology and Telr’s payment gateway will be integrated to enrol merchants into UnionPay’s global network, making it possible for UnionPay cardholders to make QR code payments for e-invoicing or online purchases with Telr’s merchants in the United Arab Emirates.
Telr’s merchants include small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups operating in government, education, consumer goods, food delivery, ride-hailing services and other industries.
China’s trade with the Middle East surged to almost US$294 billion in 2019, according to China Custom Statistics, which covers data on the country’s imports and exports. A report released in January 2020 by the US-based Middle East Institute said that private Chinese companies, especially technology firms, have been increasing their presence in the MENA region with five of the top 10 e-commerce platforms coming from China. Growth has been fuelled by the burgeoning MENA e-commerce market.
The growing relationship between China and the Middle East is also driving new cross-border partnerships to help facilitate cashless payments between the two economies.
The collaboration between Telr, Aleta Planet and UnionPay gives Middle Eastern merchants access to billions of cardholders who are making payments with UnionPay cards and it also gives UnionPay Cardholders the ability to use their cards at the merchants in the Middle East. UnionPay is one of the most popular payment methods among Chinese consumers. Globally, the company has issued cards to users in 68 countries and regions.
Commenting on the partnership, Stephen Richards Evans, Aleta Planet’s Regional CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: “We are excited to work with such an established payment gateway provider as Telr to facilitate cashless payments between Middle Eastern merchants and UnionPay cardholders. The huge growth potential of e-commerce transactions in the Middle East makes the move to provide a fast and secure online payment solution timely.”
Telr CEO Khalil Alami said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Aleta Planet and UnionPay to make it easier for our growing pool of merchants in the region to accept over 9 billion UnionPay cards issued globally.
“With China becoming a major player in the Middle East, we recognise the importance of linking thousands of our merchants with digitally-savvy Chinese consumers and enabling a range of preferred payment methods and to enable the UnionPay Cardholders to use their cards at our merchant base.”
James Yang, General Manager of UnionPay International Middle East Branch, added: “We are delighted to support Aleta Planet and Telr in enrolling thousands of Telr’s merchants to accept payments through UnionPay. More than 20 million e-commerce merchants in 200 countries and regions, in addition to mainland China, have joined the UnionPay acceptance network.”
About Aleta Planet
Founded in 2014 in Singapore by a team of professionals with strong business and technology expertise within the banking and finance industry, Aleta Planet specialises in end-to-end technology solutions for financial institutions and corporates. Aleta Planet provides payment services regulated under the Payment Services Act, governed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. We focus on a client-specific, solutions-oriented approach and have successfully delivered leading edge technology solutions.
Aleta Planet is also a direct acquirer and issuer of UnionPay International, offering cross-border, multi-currency transactions safely and securely. Being a Certified Principal Member of UnionPay International, Aleta Planet enables merchants to accept over 9 billion UnionPay cards issued globally. Additionally, Aleta Planet issues UnionPay commercial and retail cards. Aleta Planet also has presence in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong and Malaysia and plans to expand to another five markets in next two years.
About Telr
Established in 2014, Telr is an award-winning, Dubai-based payment gateway provider for SMEs, government bodies and large corporates. With a fast-growing presence in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Telr is building a wider regional presence in the MENA region.
Telr builds connections that remove fragmentation in the e-commerce ecosystem, enabling businesses to accept payments online and through a wide range of alternative payment channels. Telr’s full-stack, feature-rich payments solution has been built completely in-house, which makes it highly customisable. With Telr, businesses can transact in over 120 currencies with payment platform capabilities in 30 languages.
About UnionPay International
UnionPay International focuses on the growth and support of UnionPay’s global business. In partnership with more than 2,400 institutions worldwide, UnionPay has enabled card acceptance in 179 countries and regions with issuance in 61 countries and regions. UnionPay provides high quality, cost effective and secure cross-border payment services to the world’s largest card base and ensures convenient local services to a growing number of global UnionPay cardholders and merchants.
UnionPay global acceptance network has expanded to 179 countries and regions, covering over 55 million merchants and about 2.9 million ATMs. Outside the Chinese Mainland, UnionPay is accepted at over 32 million merchants and 1.75 million ATMs. Over 9 billion UnionPay Cards are issued in 68 countries and regions, among which over 150 million are issued outside mainland China.
UnionPay mobile payment services, UnionPay mobile QuickPass and UnionPay QR code payment, are accepted in 94 countries and regions. UnionPay QR code payment is accepted at 30 million merchants in 45 countries and regions. UnionPay mobile QuickPass (UnionPay’s contactless payment solution) is accepted at 25 million POS terminals, including over 7 million POS terminals in 82 countries and regions outside mainland China.
Media Contacts:
Catherine Ong Associates
Catherine Ong
cath ( @ ) catherineong dot com
+65 9697 0007
Romesh Navaratnarajah
romesh ( @ ) catherineong dot com
+65 9016 0920
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