On December 19th, UnionPay International and the Lao National Payment Network (LAPNet) jointly announced in Shanghai that their cooperation on QR code network interconnection has been implemented. Dong Junfeng, Secretary of the Party Committee of China UnionPay and Chairman of UnionPay International, and Manolithh SOUMPHONPHACDY, Chairman of LAPNet, attended the signing ceremony. Starting today, consumers can use the Cloud QuickPass app, domestic wallets that support the "Cloud QuickPass Network Payment Platform", and overseas UnionPay cooperative wallets to scan and pay at Laotian merchants. Wang Lixin, CEO of UnionPay International, and Sisamone SRITIRATH, CEO of LAPNet, signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of both parties. Dong Junfeng stated that in recent years, central banks in many Southeast Asian countries have accelerated the construction of local QR code networks and promoted bilateral and multilateral cross-border QR code payment cooperation. In response to this trend, UnionPay actively promotes cross-border connectivity between China's payment network and the Southeast Asian regional network. This cooperation with LAPNet in Laos is the latest achievement in cross-border connectivity work, which will significantly enhance the mobile payment experience of UnionPay wallet users in Laos. In the future, UnionPay will continue to give full play to its advantages and contribute more to promoting two-way personnel exchanges between China and Southeast Asian countries and the prosperity and development of the payment industry in the Asia Pacific region. Manolich SOUMPHONPHACDY stated that this cooperation with UnionPay International is one of the important achievements in deepening cross-border payment and digital financial services cooperation between the two sides. The interconnection of cross-border QR code payment systems is of great significance in promoting trade and personnel exchanges between Laos and China, as well as with other Southeast Asian countries. LAPNet looks forward to working with UnionPay International to accelerate the implementation of related businesses, support the innovative development of financial payments in the region, and benefit more residents and enterprises in Laos and China. In Laos, almost all merchants' POS terminals and ATMs now support UnionPay cards, and UnionPay cards have become the most commonly used international card brand by local residents. In recent years, more and more local residents have been using QR code payments. In response to this trend, UnionPay International has accelerated the expansion of QR code payment acceptance. In this collaboration with LAPNet, the UnionPay QR code standard has been integrated into the national unified QR code standard LaoQR in Laos, enabling a fast and large-scale two-way open QR code payment network and significantly enhancing the cross-border mobile payment experience for wallet users. This cooperation is based on the "network interconnection" model, where all local QR code merchants only need to update their payment codes to support UnionPay mobile payment products, without any additional technical modifications. Consumers can use the Cloud QuickPass app, wallets that support the "Cloud QuickPass Network Payment Platform" in China, and overseas UnionPay standard wallets to complete payments by scanning codes in Laos. In the future, local merchants in Laos who accept QR codes will also default to supporting UnionPay acceptance. Next, both parties will further promote the use of local commercial bank apps by Laotian residents for use by UnionPay QR code merchants in China. Laotian residents can bind physical UnionPay cards or apply for digital UnionPay cards within the app, and directly scan UnionPay QR codes for payment in countries and regions where UnionPay QR code acceptance has been opened, thereby significantly improving the cross-border, especially mobile payment experience for Laotian residents in China. Since last year, UnionPay International has reached or promoted cooperation with local transfer networks in 18 countries and regions overseas, promoting the interconnection of QR code services. At present, the number of overseas merchants accepting UnionPay QR codes has increased to over 8.6 million in 46 countries and regions, providing consumers with more convenient and diversified payment services. (New Society)