NAIROBI - East Africa's largest financial institution, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group and the Chinese financial service giant UnionPay International, on Friday entered into a partnership to boost digital payments in Eastern Africa.

KCB Kenya Head of Channels Dennis Njau said that the collaboration will see the issuance of UnionPay Prepaid Travel Mate cards in the Eastern Africa region.

"The cards will enable the digitalization of payments at retailers, large and small, to take advantage of one of the world's fastest payment processing networks," Njau said in a statement released in Nairobi.

As a result of the partnership, UnionPay prepaid and debit cards with chip-enabled technology, will be issued, first into the Kenyan market and then extended into East Africa.

The cards will be equipped with chip-enabled technology, to offer advanced speed, security and convenience to the bank's customers.

Njau said that with tourism and trade increasingly becoming the mainstay of East African region's economy, the partnership with UnionPay International strengthens its cooperation with a local financial institution to cater to the new customer segment.

UnionPay International CEO, Cai Jianbo said that the prepaid cards to be rolled out in East Africa will feature UnionPay contactless technology called "Quickpass" which provide speed and convenience to cardholders at major retailers, grocery stores, cinemas, parking lots, mass transit and taxis.

"The launch of UnionPay Business in Eastern Africa will further strengthen cooperation on people-to-people exchanges and advance the financial inclusion programs," Cai added.