Hong Kong picks AlipayHK, Octopus, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK as e-payment providers for HK$5,000 digital voucher scheme, set to launch in summer
- Payment companies to reveal details of the system later so registration can open in the summer holiday, finance chief says
- Digital voucher scheme aims to boost spending by giving every Hong Kong adult resident HK$5,000 in consumption vouchers
Four electronic payment service providers – AlipayHK, Octopus, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK – have been chosen to operate Hong Kong’s HK$5,000 (US$643) voucher scheme, which officials plan to launch this summer to boost local spending and accelerate the city’s economic recovery.
The government said on Sunday the providers would look to announce details of the system design as soon as possible so registration for the digital consumption vouchers could open during the summer holiday period.
The scheme, a key policy from Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget speech in February, will offer every adult Hong Kong resident HK$5,000 in local spending vouchers, benefiting 7.2 million people. It will cost the government an estimated HK$36 billion, of which HK$600 million is for administrative expenses.
“The operators, taking into account their operational model and commercial arrangements, will give back the additional income generated from the consumption vouchers to merchants or consumers by various means,” Chan said on Sunday. “They will also organise different promotional events to encourage consumption.”
He said the operators currently cover a network of about 30,000 to 100,000 merchants in retail, food and drink, and service industries.
They have agreed to waive their fees for processing payments incurred from the consumption vouchers to motivate more businesses to join the scheme, according to Chan.
