Hong Kong payment services – those using mobile and electronic payments – still lag behind Mainland China and Singapore.
Payment network provider Visa has seen use of its contactless payments double to 16 per cent of all Visa transactions in the city in the past year. The system lets customers use their mobile phone, watch or Visa payWave cards to settle transactions in stores.
“This is still below Singapore where half of all payments are contactless,” says Visa Hong Kong/Macau country manager Caroline Ada, country manager of Visa Hong Kong and Macau.
But she is optimistic as contactless payment has grown quickly in Hong Kong after many banks in the last half of the year promoted Android and Apple Pay to customers.
“Hong Kong people are quick in adopting mobile payments,” says Ada. “Many banks, such as HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, are promoting the Visa PayWave cards and mobile payment.”
Visa payWave cards were introduced in 2008, with more than 3 million users in Hong Kong now covering credit cards, mobile phones and watches.
In a Visa online survey polling 750 residents last year, 84 per cent of respondents had used Visa payWave or other forms of mobile payment, while 66 per cent had tried both.