Macau Pass Group, Cardnet build Sino-European payment bridge

Macau Pass Group, a mobile payment platform in China's Macao, is partnering with Hungary's Cardnet Group to facilitate cross-border, cross-system payments and transactions for users in China and Europe.

Cardnet is a leading group of Hungarian digital payment integrators and service providers that services banks, retailers and merchant networks predominantly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Gulf region.

The two companies inked a letter of intent for cooperation on the Bilateral Retail Interconnective Digital Gateway Ecosystem on Nov 26, exploring new opportunities and scenarios for Sino-European financial cooperation.

The project, known as the BRIDGE for short, is a key initiative under the Digital Silk Road framework, aligning with the core objectives of digital infrastructure development.

"There are millions of Chinese tourists, workers and business people in the EU. They want to use their mobile payment applications in the EU. Likewise, Europeans want to use their payment cards in China.

"The BRIDGE project that we have teamed up for, will be the answer to these needs. In a broader sense, we aim at creating a digital payment interconnector between Asia and Europe in Hungary," said Janos Koka, director of Cardnet Group.

According to their letter of intent, the project will initially focus on the tourism sector and gradually expand to cover retail, transportation, dining, ticketing, and public services.

It will cover both online and brick-and-mortar scenarios while offering digital transformation solutions to local merchants.

Sun Ho, director and CEO of Macau Pass Group, said the BRIDGE project, as its name suggests, aims to build a payment bridge connecting China and the world.

"Our goal is to establish a globally significant model for payment interoperability and inject fresh momentum into the global digitalization process," he said.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade, said the two companies' agreement is an important milestone.

"Tourism in both directions has been increasing. And I do believe that in case the common payment platform is being established, it is going to be even more attractive to travel into the countries of each other," he said.

He said the potential for Sino-Hungarian cross-border payment cooperation is immense, adding that China's mobile payment technology is world-leading, and he looks forward to seeing cross-border mobile payment applied more broadly in Hungary's tourism and service industries.