It is clear that the Octopus card company is heading in the wrong direction in its efforts to compete in the mobile payment market.
The O! ePay app for android devices only supports credit cards issued by Standard Chartered Bank. This is much less convenient than WeChat Pay and Alipay, and the app received a poor rating of 2.1 out of 5.0 in the Google app store.
The company’s latest solution for iPhones requires the purchase of a Bluetooth card reader that costs HK$228. It is hard to imagine that many customers would buy the card readers when similar transactions can be easily executed with an iPhone alone, using Apple Pay.
If Octopus Cards Limited is serious about facilitating mobile payments in Hong Kong, it should first recognise that the physical cards are redundant for people who prefer to pay with their smartphones.
Instead of adding new hardware to link Octopus cards with smartphones, the company should gradually phase out the physical Octopus cards and offer smartphone-based virtual Octopus cards taking advantage of near-field communication (NFC), a smartphone technology for contactless payment.
Since Apple does not open its NFC to third parties, Octopus should offer a partnership deal to Apple by allowing Apple Pay to use its countless Octopus card readers across the city.