Sends and UnionPay Have Agreed to a Global Partnership in the Payments Sector
The British fintech company Sends has announced an expansion of its collaboration with the international payment system UnionPay International. The partnership will cover two key areas: payment card issuance and acquiring.
This new phase of the partnership will enable Sends to more fully integrate UnionPay’s infrastructure into its own payment products. This includes both the ability to accept UnionPay card payments and the development of solutions related to card issuance.
This collaboration effectively continues the integration that Sends began back in 2025. At that time, the company launched the UnionPay International acquiring service, which enabled its business clients to accept UnionPay cards both online and at physical points of sale.
Sends previously explained that the UnionPay integration is intended to help European and international companies reach a broader audience, particularly customers in Asian markets. UnionPay remains one of the world’s largest payment networks: its infrastructure spans more than 180 countries and regions.
Separately, the company had already been developing its UnionPay business through integration with the PAIO payment platform. Following the launch of PAIO’s UnionPay acquiring service, the PAIO and Sends systems were integrated, enabling the scaling of UnionPay payment acceptance among Sends’ clients.
Expanding the partnership to include card issuing could significantly increase the scope of the collaboration. Unlike acquiring, which allows businesses to accept UnionPay cards, issuing involves the direct issuance of card products that operate within the respective payment network. For Sends, this means the opportunity to gradually build a more comprehensive payment ecosystem—from card issuance to card usage and payment acceptance by businesses in various countries.
UnionPay International has been actively expanding its global presence in recent years. According to China UnionPay, its payment acceptance network already covers 183 countries and regions, with over 100 million merchant locations outside mainland China, and local UnionPay card issuance operates in dozens of countries.
As a reminder, UA.News previously reported on Sends’ growth strategy and the company’s expansion in the international fintech market. Sends also expanded its partnerships following its participation in the PAY360 conference in London.
In addition, Samsung Pay became available to Sends customers, expanding the possibilities for using digital payments.
On the technology front, the Sends team reached the finals of a hackathon with its Financial Pod prototype during the launch of ODI Solid26.
At the same time, the company appointed Eddie Mendez as the person responsible for anti-money laundering reporting, strengthening its financial compliance efforts.
