Octopus Expands Digital Payment in Hong Kong Taxis
- Written by Telegraph Magazine
- For the first time, Octopus opens up its payment network to UnionPay, AlipayHK, and Alipay to enable QR payments for Mainland visitors and Hong Kong passengers
- Transaction fee waiver and referral programme to accelerate driver sign-up
From 25 January, Mainland visitors and Hong Kong residents will have more options to pay for their taxi rides. 
By opening its network to other payment platforms, the first time in the company's history, Octopus makes it easier and more convenient for the city's taxi drivers to take mobile payment. 
The inclusion of UnionPay, AlipayHK, and Alipay also solves one of the biggest pain points when paying for taxi rides in Hong Kong by providing more choices. Customers with an Octopus card can continue to tap and pay at the same Octopus Mobile POS. 
To encourage sign-up from taxi drivers, Octopus will also continue to waive transaction fees for taxi drivers until the end of 2025.[1]
Tim Ying, Chief Executive Officer, Octopus Holdings Limited said: "Octopus' mission is to make everyday life easier through fast, simple, and secure payment experience. As our network already connected with most taxi drivers, we saw an opportunity to make it even more convenient for Mainland visitors and Hong Kong residents to pay for their cab rides with the method they are familiar with."
The Transport Department welcomes Octopus' new initiative to widen the usage of digital payments in taxis. It continues to maintain open dialogues with all players in the ecosystem, encouraging the adoption of more non-cash payment means for the convenience of all passengers.
Enhancing Octopus App for Business
Taxi drivers can start accepting payments by updating their existing Octopus App for Business. After updating the App, taxi drivers just need to enter the payment amount, and passengers can tap their Octopus card or scan the QR code on the paired Octopus Mobile POS to pay.
Referral programme for taxi industry
To further boost taxi acceptance, Octopus is rolling out a referral programme to onboard more taxi drivers to join the Octopus platform. Starting from today to 31 March 2024, drivers who successfully refer their peers to open an Octopus App for Business account will receive a HK$100 reward for each new referral. To qualify, the referred drivers must make at least five Octopus transactions worth HK$22 or more within the first 30 days of opening an account. Drivers can earn a maximum of 10 referral rewards, up to HK$1,000 in total. Octopus will also give newly registered taxi drivers complimentary Octopus Mobile POS devices and waive their transaction fees.
Mr. Ying added: "By opening up our network for other payment service providers, Mainland visitors now have an option to scan and pay, in addition to tapping their Mobile Octopus and Octopus cards – solving a major pain point for many Mainland visitors attempting to pay digitally in Hong Kong taxis."
Hashtag: #Octopus
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About Octopus Cards Limited (Licence Number: SVF0001)
Operating under the Stored Value Facilities Licence, Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) provides innovative offline and online Octopus payment services to meet customers' diverse payment needs.
Launched in 1997 by OCL, the Octopus system in Hong Kong is one of the world's leading and most extensively accepted contactless smartcard payment systems. Its aspiration is to bring diversity and inclusion in payment to customers of all facets of life.
Today, more than 20 million Octopus Cards and products are in circulation; spanning businesses including public transport, parking, retail, self-help services, schools, and leisure facilities, and access control for residential and commercial buildings. There are over 180,000 Octopus acceptance points in the market. Octopus' application has been extended to online and mobile payment arenas with services including Octopus Card on iPhone and Apple Watch, Octopus Card on Samsung Pay, Octopus Card on Huawei Pay, Octopus App, Octopus Wallet, Octopus Mastercard® and UnionPay, bringing new payment experiences to customers.
The Octopus Group exports its unique experience and technology overseas, offering consultancy services across the world. The mission of OCL is simple: Making everyday life easier. For more information about OCL, please visit www.octopus.com.hk.
