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Apple Pay finally arrives on the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, after rumors announced last month that it would be part of the iOS 13 system.
Octopus cards were launched in 1997 and quickly became one of the most successful in the world.
Besides buses, ferries, metro and tram, Octopus is accepted almost everywhere: pharmacies, supermarkets, cafes, vending machines, etc. In fact, even though Apple Pay is fast and convenient, it is even faster Just tap an Octopus card on a payment processor and leave.
That's why it's good news that Octopus has made it official; Apple Pay arrives on Octopus cards.
Committed to providing innovative Octopus payment services to meet the diverse needs of its customers, Octopus Cards Limited is pleased to announce that customers will be able to use their Octopus on their iPhone or Apple Watch for transit and retail payments with Apple. Pay later this year. More details will be shared soon.
The first indication that Apple Pay is on Octopus goes back to June, when server-side code was detected to indicate an upcoming integration. The code was quickly removed when the discovery was made public.
The integration of Apple Pay to the transit systems could potentially change the deal in terms of Apple Pay adoption. Octopus NFC payments have been available on Samsung phones since 2017, fueling demand in Hong Kong for Apple to match this feature.
Hong Kong has a population of just over seven million, but 33 million Octopus cards are in circulation, which clearly indicates that many people have more than one. Tourists also buy them to move around the city during their visits.
Apple uses Express Transit for the integration of its transit card, a system that bypbades the usual face or touch authentication authentications for faster payments when a phone or watch is tapped or abandoned near an NFC terminal.
Hope that Express Transit with Octopus will allow the iPhone and Apple Watch to live without experience the speed experience of using a physical Octopus card.
Until now, Express Transit has been deployed in Japan, Beijing, Shanghai and parts of New York City, London being on the verge of having it.
Photo: SCMP
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