Hong Kong's Octopus card, a contactless stored-value smart card, can be used to pay for virtually everything, from train rides to utility bills.
While Octopus has proven successful in the city since its launch in 1997, its chief operations officer Sammy Kam told The Straits Times that the company’s biggest present-day challenge was to nudge users into shifting their Octopus usage behaviour.
Users tap their phones against Octopus readers at railway turnstiles and retail stores to make payment, with the balance displayed immediately on the devices and the readers. If a user loses his smartphone, he can lock or unlink his Octopus account from his device’s cloud system, switch off the NFC service, and restore the Octopus account on a new phone.
Singapore said SimplyGo’s account-based system meant that travel records were held in a back office and transactions processed there, similar to how bank cards work. “At the end of the day, our biggest competitor is cash,” Mr Kam said. “The option of bank cards gives customers more choice, which is better for some users like tourists even if they can’t see their fare balances immediately.”
“Unlike transport cards issued by other cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the Octopus card cannot be virtualised and integrated in most mobile phones other than Apple, Samsung and Huawei devices… which can be a restriction for users who prefer using other smartphones,” he added.