HBL and UnionPay International have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic cooperation, formalized at UnionPay’s headquarters in Shanghai, China. The agreement was signed by Muhammad Nassir Salim, President and CEO of HBL, and Larry Wang, CEO of UnionPay International, bringing together Pakistan’s largest bank by branch network and one of the world’s largest card payment networks under a single cooperation framework.
The MoU is aimed at expanding payment capabilities in Pakistan, with a specific focus on growing opportunities for card issuance and transaction volumes through the partnership. The arrangement is built around combining HBL’s extensive domestic footprint, which spans branches across the country along with related entities in microfinance, asset management, and currency exchange, with UnionPay’s international payment network, which already has a significant global card acceptance base spanning multiple continents.
For Pakistani cardholders, an expanded relationship with UnionPay International typically translates into wider card acceptance abroad, along with greater options for banks issuing UnionPay-branded cards domestically. For UnionPay, partnering with a bank of HBL’s scale gives the international network a broader base within Pakistan’s banking sector to grow its card issuance and transaction volumes, an approach the company has used in other markets to expand its global footprint through local banking partnerships.
The signing event drew a wide network of tags from Pakistani government and financial institutions, though no specific figures were shared on projected card issuance volumes, the timeline for rolling out the expanded cooperation, or which HBL products would be the first to integrate more closely with the UnionPay network. Both companies described the MoU as a significant step in their relationship, with further details on implementation expected as the partnership moves from agreement to execution.
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