China UnionPay (中国银联) and Ant Group (蚂蚁集团) launched a jointly developed point-of-sale terminal on November 12 that accepts Alipay Tap (碰一下) payments, domestic and foreign bank cards, QR codes, phone wallets and e-CNY on one device. The first units went live at Intime’s Kaiyuan Mall next to the Bell Tower in Xi’an.
UnionPay Merchant Services (银联商务) is the authorised distributor and operator, and other acquirers in China can buy the terminal from it, China National Radio reported. UnionPay chairman Dong Junfeng (董俊峰), Ant Group chief executive Han Xinyi (韩歆毅) and Intime chairman Chen Xiaodong (陈晓东) attended the launch. The device can also take one payment and split the settlement among concession holders in a mall, issue electronic invoices, and process departure tax refunds for overseas visitors. UnionPay Merchant Services plans to install it across Intime stores nationwide.
Shanghai Securities News said the terminal is a product of the cooperation agreement that UnionPay and Ant signed on April 16. Alipay launched Tap in July 2024.
- Payment methods: Alipay Tap, domestic and foreign bank cards, aggregated QR codes, phone wallets, e-CNY
- Distribution: UnionPay Merchant Services, open to other acquirers
- Alipay Tap to date: 2,200 use cases, 30 million offline points, 400 million users
Why it matters: Many Chinese shops still keep a card terminal, a QR stand and an Alipay Tap device side by side, and each one needs its own reconciliation. A single certified terminal removes that cost and puts Ant’s NFC product on UnionPay’s card acquiring network, which also means more tills where a visitor’s foreign card works. The next test is how many acquirers outside UnionPay Merchant Services order it, and whether other mall chains follow Intime.
Sources: 新浪科技 / Sina Tech, November 12, 2026; 央广网 / China National Radio, November 12, 2026; 上海证券报 / Shanghai Securities News, via 同花顺 10jqka, November 12, 2026 (Chinese-language sources, translated)
Image: HualinXMN, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
