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Nikki Sun

Denise Tsang

The legal limit on the amount of money that can be stored on Octopus cards will rise threefold to HK$3,000 per card when the company running the payment system renews its licence in November, according to its chief executive Sunny Cheung Yiu-tong.
But the card issuer has yet to decide when to take advantage of the new limit as it needs to iron out technical problems and consider consumer protection issues, he said.
Economists said a rise in the stored value limit would make the cards more user friendly and threaten the use of credit cards in smaller transactions.
Such a move could significantly reshape the electronic payment market in Hong Kong and people’s shopping patterns, they said.
READ MORE: Hong Kong minibus driver arrested for using senior citizen Octopus cards to rack up HK$150,000
Each Hongkonger currently holds an average of almost four Octopus cards.
The cards, which are widely used to pay fares on public transport, shop at supermarkets or convenience stores and pay at car parks, are governed by a regulatory regime, a revision of which will take effect in November.
Octopus Holdings, which has been operating the system for 19 years and issued 30 million cards, is currently calling on about two million holders of first-generation cards to turn them in for free upgrades.
First-generation cards will still function despite the push for renewals, though they will not support some functions on the Octopus smartphone app.
So far only 80,000 cards, or 4 per cent of the old cards, have been replaced since the initiative began last summer.
“If you hear a double beep during payment, it is a reminder you need to renew your Octopus,” Cheung said.
Bank of Communications chief economist Law Ka-chung said competition for smaller transactions and online payments would heat up upon implementation of a new deposit limit on the cards.
“The increase will threaten business in traditional payment methods, ” he said. “Octopus cards require the least time to pay.”
Stephen Wong Yuen-shan, a lecturer with Chinese University’s master of social science in global political economy programme, welcomed the possible higher limit.
“It’s definitely a good thing,” Wong said, adding it was a step forward for Hong Kong in the booming electronic payment market.
In online shopping, Octopus cards also charge smaller processing fees for transactions than credit cards.
Taobao, a mainland shopping platform which accounts for roughly half of the e-commerce market in Hong Kong, charges only 1.5 per cent on transactions compared with 3 per cent for credit cards.
According to Octopus’ sales and marketing director Rita Li, hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong users have used Octopus cards to carry out purchases on Taobao since it started offering the service in 2014. The company said an average of HK$100 to HK$200 is spent per transaction with the cards on Taobao.


Octopus cash limit to triple to HK$3,000 in bold move that could change our shopping habits

The stored-value limit on Octopus cards could rise to HK$3,000. Photo: SCMP Pictures

News

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Economy

Revision to ordinance governing the legal limit to take effect in November, but company says technical problems and consumer protection issues must be overcome


Octopus cash limit to triple to HK$3,000 in bold move that could change our shopping habits

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Revision to ordinance governing the legal limit to take effect in November, but company says technical problems and consumer protection issues must be overcome

Revision to ordinance governing the legal limit to take effect in November, but company says technical problems and consumer protection issues must be overcome