Huawei has announced the arrival of its contactless payment system, Huawei Pay, in Malaysia today. Partnering with UnionPay International and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to bring the new function to local shores, Huawei Pay is intended to provide an easier and more secure contactless, cashless payment process on selected Huawei smartphones.

Huawei Pay is housed within the Huawei Wallet app as one of its key services, and it requires an NFC-enabled (near field communication) phone to work. To enable and use the new function, you’ll first need to add a supported credit card to your Huawei Wallet app. Once done, you can then proceed to carry out transactions conveniently by tapping your Huawei smartphones to payment terminals.

“Instead of having the need to unlock their phone, application, or even connect to the internet, users can opt to make in-store payments by holding the Huawei smartphone close to the payment reader. Once the fingerprint is authenticated, the payment is done,” said Huawei in a statement.

One stumbling block is that currently, Huawei Pay supports only UnionPay credit cards issued by ICBC within Malaysia, although the tech giant’s website clarified that Huawei Pay can actually accept UnionPay credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued by partner banks. Huawei also emphasised that users can use Huawei Pay at over 20 million payment terminals across 51 countries and regions around the world, as long as the terminals carry the UnionPay QuickPass logo.

In terms of security, Huawei Pay taps into several safety features to provide a more secure service for their customers. One key feature is that it makes use of a device-specific number (token) instead of your bank card number to conduct payments. When you add a card to Huawei Pay, a token will be encrypted and stored in a separate security chipset intended for sensitive data. In other words, your actual card number will not be stored on your device or Huawei Pay servers, nor will it be shared with merchants – thereby limiting the possibility of data theft or leakage. This is a technology similar to those used in Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.

Aside from that, each Huawei Pay transaction must be authenticated by your fingerprint or passcode. The new mobile payment function also will not keep transaction information that can be traced back to you, which further reduces the risk of data leakage and guarantees the security of your information and funds.

According to Huawei, Huawei Pay has been made available to local users since 15 November 2020, although only users with selected smartphones spanning across the Mate, P, and Nova series can use it. If you’ve got a compatible phone and the right credit card, and would like to test out Huawei Pay for yourself, here’s a full list of the merchants that you can visit to do so:

Category	Merchant
Fashion	Superdry La Senza G2000 Timberland Vans Levi’s Cotton On Lacoste Marc Jacobs FashionValet Giordano Armani Emporio Armani DKNY Calvin Klein
Food & Beverage	McDonald’s KFC Purple Cane Tea Acme Bar & Coffee Enoshima Japanese Restaurant Yuzu Japanese Restaurant Ozeki Bistro Ya Shi No Mi Café Dunkin Donuts Din Tai Fung
Beauty & Cosmetics	YSL Beauté Boutique Lancôme THEFACESHOP Christian Dior Nu Skin Skin Town Sephora
Sport & Others	Royal Sporting House Sports Direct Nike Adidas Reebok Puma Toys”R”Us
Groceries	Parkson Isetan NSK Family Mart Village Grocer KK Mart 99 Speedmart

As an introductory promotion, all ICBC UnionPay credit cardholders who register their cards with Huawei Pay between 12 December 2020 until 12 March 2021 will be able to enjoy up to 50% cashback for every transaction with a minimum spend of RM20. The top monthly spender will also stand a chance to receive prizes such as a Huawei P40, Huawei FreeBuds 3, and Huawei Watch GT 2E.

Huawei Pay was first introduced in China in 2016, and was eventually expanded to other countries including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, and Russia. You can find out more about Huawei Pay here, or check out the FAQ here.

• TAGS:
• Cashless Payments
• Contactless Payments
• Huawei
• Huawei Pay
• ICBC
• ICBC UnionPay Credit Cards
• UnionPay
• UnionPay International
• UnionPay QuickPass