Hong Kong immigration and business: Li Ka-shing's son, "Little Superman" Li Zeqi, recently announced his entry into the mobile payment industry. Industry insiders describe his plan to create a "Hong Kong version of Alipay," which is expected to change the current situation where Hong Kong's mobile payment industry lags far behind that of the mainland.
In recent years, convenient and fast mobile payment services have developed rapidly in mainland China, covering various aspects such as online shopping, online transfers, and payment of utility bills. However, Hong Kong, as an international financial center, seems to be lagging behind in this regard. A Hong Kong student who interned in the mainland during the summer once told me that after coming to Beijing, she found life here very convenient, with many convenience stores and supermarkets supporting Alipay and WeChat payments. Friends can also split bills through Alipay and WeChat, and the level of wireless payment systems has surpassed that of Hong Kong.
However, this situation is expected to improve. Li Zeqi's group, HKT Payment Ltd, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Telecommunications, recently announced that it will collaborate with Mastercard to launch the "Tap & Go" prepaid mobile payment service. Customers can replace their SIM cards for free at retail locations and experience mobile NFC (Near Field Communication) payment services at over 3 million merchants worldwide through Mastercard's contactless card readers. Online shopping will also be facilitated, achieving the convenience of a "mobile wallet." In the first phase, 6,000 merchants in Hong Kong will be covered, along with promotional activities: customers who use "Tap & Go" to shop at 759 on August 8 and 9 can enjoy a 50% discount on both regular and neighborhood prices.
The Managing Director of Hong Kong Telecommunications, Ai Weilang, stated that the "Tap & Go" service currently only supports Android phones, but it is believed that Apple phones will also support the service in the near future. Users can initially top up using cash or through Dah Sing Bank, with a maximum top-up of HKD 10,000 per day and a transaction limit of HKD 1,000 per transaction. Currently, all transactions are settled in Hong Kong dollars, and future support for overseas currency transactions is not ruled out.
One or two years ago, the three major telecommunications operators in Hong Kong were closely monitoring the upstream and downstream of the banking industry and promoting mobile NFC payments by changing SIM cards, but they struggled to open up the market, largely due to high promotional barriers. Promoting NFC requires the involvement of multiple parties, including operators, mobile manufacturers, banks, chip manufacturers, system integrators, POS terminal vendors, card organizations, and industry regulators, making integration quite challenging. This time, Li Zeqi's group chose to "face the challenge head-on," reflecting the trend of mobile payment services as a major consumer trend in the future market. It is hoped that soon, citizens of Hong Kong will be able to experience the convenient mobile payment model just like residents of the mainland.