10 news stories.
• Should Octopus Holdings be in the NFCW Expo? Is this your organisation? Find out how to get your NFCW Expo showcase.
• Should Octopus Holdings be in the NFCW Expo? Is this your organisation? Find out how to get your NFCW Expo showcase.
Octopus users in Hong Kong will soon be able to pay for public transport fares in more than 300 cities in mainland China with a new physical transit card to be launched “by the end of this year or early next year”, according to a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report... More
Users of Octopus transit cards in Hong Kong could soon be able to pay for public transport fares in mainland China, with the ability to make payments for purchases at stores across the country to follow, the company’s outgoing CEO has told the South China Morning Post... More
Octopus App enhanced with more customer-centric mobile services — Octopus — “Octopus users with compatible Android NFC devices can simply enter their Octopus number into the Octopus app and tap their Octopus onto the back of their mobile phones. Users with iOS devices (or Android devices without NFC) can enter the Octopus number into the Octopus app, then visit any of the 50 Octopus service points that are conveniently located all over Hong Kong to tap their Octopus within seven days to complete the registration and verification process.”
Octopus App for Business now enables all Octopus users to pay on merchant mobile devices — Octopus Cards — “Octopus Cards Limited today launched a new feature to enhance the Octopus App for Business, allowing merchants to accept Octopus card payment through their NFC mobile devices. Users of all Octopus cards and products (including Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay) can simply tap on the merchants’ NFC mobile devices — which can now serve as Octopus readers for easy payments.”
Samsung teams up with Octopus to launch exclusively the first “Smart Octopus” in Samsung Pay — Octopus Holdings — “Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay will enable NFC payment at all Octopus acceptance points, covering public transport as well as over 21,000 retail outlets, online shopping, recreational facilities, vending machines, self-service kiosks; plus the use of parking and access control facilities at residential or commercial premises.”
Hong Kong e-payment operator Octopus launches QR code service, aiming to get city’s 40,000 taxi drivers off cash — South China Morning Post — “Hong Kong cashless payment operator Octopus has launched a QR code service aimed at small merchants and the city’s 40,000 taxi drivers, who have long been reluctant to accept anything but cash. The new payment method, which only requires a smartphone on each side of the transaction, eliminates the need for merchants to install Octopus card readers, which at certain locations are bound by technical limitations.”
Contactless competition: WeChat Pay is coming to Hong Kong’s MTR, and Alipay may not be far behind — South China Morning Post — “Commuters on Hong Kong’s MTR will soon be given a new quick payment option as the railway operator has partnered with the mainland’s second-largest mobile payment provider WeChat Pay, it announced on Thursday. WeChat Pay’s main rival, Alipay, said it would follow suit in the ‘near future’… While the initiative arguably benefits mainland tourists more than Hongkongers, it breaks a 20-year stronghold by the contactless Octopus card on how train fares can be paid for.”
Hong Kong prepaid card provider Octopus has partnered with Chinese online giant Alibaba’s Taobao ecommerce platform and Alipay mobile payments service to let customers make secure online purchases using a combination of contactless cards, QR codes and NFC phones. More
Hong Kong contactless transportation ticketing and stored value payments provider Octopus is conducting a mobile payments pilot in conjunction with mobile network operator PCCW-HKT, using Octopus Mobile SIMs — NFC-enabled SIM cards compatible with Sony FeliCa contactless card technology... More
Hong Kong’s Octopus stored value cards will be available on NFC phones by the end of 2013, chief executive Sunny Cheung Yiu-tong has told the South China Morning Post... More