QR code wars: Hong Kong’s Octopus targets shoe shiners with e-payment system
Competition from mainland giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay means city’s pioneer in electronic transactions has to keep up with mobile scanning method
Shoe-shining stalls in Hong Kong’s bustling business hub, Central, have emerged as the next industry targeted by electronic payment service providers, as a local operator seeks to fend off rising competition from mainland Chinese giants.
Octopus, the smart card operator which has dominated the Hong Kong market for the past 20 years, rolled out a trial on a new QR code feature several weeks ago, including a real-time online payment via phone widely used in mainland China.
At the busy Theatre Lane, three cobblers are already polishing up their act by allowing customers to settle payments through Octopus QR codes.
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The QR code method differs from the Octopus cards’ near-field communication (NFC), a scanning technology where payments are usually cleared at a later time.
If the move takes off, it will mark a new era for Octopus, which currently has 33 million cards in circulation.
One of the shoe shiners, who gave her name as “Sister Ying”, said the QR code feature was not popular yet and she had only encountered a few patrons using it. Customers must have the Octopus app installed on their smartphones, and their accounts must be topped up in advance.
During a transaction, users scan the merchant’s QR code with their phones, and their accounts are then debited according to the payment amount.