‘Hard to believe’: Hong Kong ‘lagging behind’ in epayments as Octopus card and cash keep grip on shoppers, merchants

Visitors have long grumbled over paucity of payment options, especially compared with mainland China’s widely adopted digital solutions. Some platforms have grown in popularity since pandemic, but merchants complain about relatively high transaction fees for epayment systems, say they prefer cash. — SCMP

Shanghai businesswoman Zhong Zhouyan was caught unprepared when she realised the taxi she entered at Hong Kong International Airport on New Year’s Eve only accepted cash payments.

She took the MTR instead, paying for her train ride to her hotel in North Point using mainland China’s popular epayment platform WeChat Pay.