Hong Kong’s Octopus to waive transfer fees for first HK$10,000 made by small businesses
- E-payment service provider to introduce threshold from August 1, as part of efforts to reduce financial pressure on service users
Hong Kong e-payment service provider Octopus will waive bank transfer fees for the first HK$10,000 (US$1,300) in monthly transactions made by small-scale businesses to help ease their financial burdens, after some users opted out of the system to cut costs.
The company said on Tuesday that the move would take effect from August 1 for all micro, small and medium businesses using the system.
The policy would also make the service free for more than 80 per cent of such merchants, since they typically recorded a monthly transaction volume of HK$10,000 or less, it added.
“As the largest e-payment platform in Hong Kong, we hope to take the lead in supporting businesses,” Octopus sales and marketing director Rita Li said.
Businesses are facing a tougher market amid a growing trend of Hongkongers crossing the border to spend money on cheaper goods and services in mainland Chinese cities such as Shenzhen, all backed by a stronger Hong Kong dollar.
The Post observed a number of businesses had opted out of using Octopus card readers after installing them during the Covid-19 pandemic to capitalise on the government’s issuance of e-vouchers to boost public spending.
