UnionPay just plugged into Amazon’s payment rails in MENA

UnionPay International (UPI) and Amazon Payment Services have signed a regional agreement that will let merchants across the Middle East and North Africa accept UnionPay cards online. The deal was signed in Dubai by Luping Zhang, General Manager of UnionPay International Middle East, and Pablo Londono, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services. 

Once the technical work is done, UnionPay cardholders will be able to pay at Amazon Payment Services merchants across eight markets: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. 

What’s actually been announced

The partnership is about one thing: making UnionPay cards easier to use at online businesses that already process payments through Amazon Payment Services.

• Strategic collaboration between UnionPay International and Amazon Payment Services
• Covers UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon
• Agreement signed in Dubai in the presence of senior leaders from both sides
• Focused on secure, seamless online transactions for UnionPay cardholders 

In practice, this means Amazon Payment Services will add UnionPay to the list of card schemes merchants can accept. For UnionPay, it’s a way to boost acceptance in MENA without signing separate deals with thousands of individual merchants. For Amazon Payment Services, it’s another payment option it can offer to businesses and their customers, alongside cards, wallets and instalment plans that are already part of its stack. 

If you want a sense of how Amazon Payment Services builds these partnerships, check out its recent tie-up with Tamara for Buy Now, Pay Later in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

What changes for merchants in the UAE and wider region

For merchants plugged into Amazon Payment Services, this deal is mainly about reach and choice.

• Ability to accept UnionPay cards once integration is completed
• Access to UnionPay’s global customer base in 80+ countries and regions
• More options for international shoppers paying on local sites
• No need for separate UnionPay contracts or integrations at merchant level 

If you’re running an online store in the UAE or Saudi Arabia, you’re probably already juggling card schemes, wallets and maybe a Buy Now, Pay Later partner. This integration keeps things centralised. UnionPay support would sit alongside your existing Amazon Payment Services setup, instead of becoming another technical project.

For SMEs that are still picking a payment gateway in the first place, tools like PaySelect already try to simplify the comparison process.  This UnionPay–Amazon Payment Services deal just adds another box to tick under “supported card networks” when you’re shortlisting providers.

What it means for UnionPay cardholders

On the cardholder side, the story is about smoother checkout on more sites across MENA.

• UnionPay cards will be accepted at Amazon Payment Services merchants once rollout is complete
• Cardholders get a “frictionless” online payment flow, integrated directly into checkout
• More merchants across eight MENA countries will show UnionPay as a payment option 

UnionPay has grown into a global card scheme, especially for travellers and cross-border shoppers. With this deal, those customers should see UnionPay alongside Visa, Mastercard and local options on more regional websites, from UAE e-commerce and subscription services to travel and hospitality platforms using Amazon Payment Services.

It’s worth noting this partnership adds to the broader shift in how people pay in MENA, where shoppers are already moving between cards, wallets and instalment options depending on the purchase. 

A small but important piece of MENA’s payments puzzle

This is not a flashy consumer launch. It’s infrastructure work that sits under the hood of the region’s digital economy.

• Fits into a wider wave of payment partnerships and gateway deals in MENA
• Helps regional merchants serve more international customers without extra complexity
• Supports ongoing growth in digital commerce across the UAE and GCC 

From payment gateway matchmaking platforms to big-ticket mergers like Network International and Magnati, the region’s payments landscape is consolidating and scaling fast.  In that context, UnionPay linking up with Amazon Payment Services is a logical move: merchants get one integration, and more global buyers can check out without changing their usual card.

If you follow how e-commerce infrastructure is evolving in the UAE, it sits alongside other moves like Dubai CommerCity’s recent partnership with VTEX to accelerate digital commerce in the GCC. 

Where to learn more

If you want to go deeper into the two partners’ own material, you can check:

• Amazon Payment Services: paymentservices.amazon.com
• UnionPay International: unionpayintl.com

 And if you want more context on payments in the region, have a look at our Amazon Payment Services coverage and related fintech stories on tbreak. 

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