Hong Kong mobile payments to be accepted on Guangzhou public transport
- Yang Cheng Tong, the stored value cards used in the Guangdong capital, says payments made via the Hong Kong version of Alipay will be accepted ‘soon’
- Announcement comes amid drive to integrate Hong Kong and Macau with other cities in southern China as part of Greater Bay Area plans
Hong Kong residents will soon be able to make mobile payments on public transport in Guangzhou as part of a drive to connect payment systems across key cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Yang Cheng Tong, the contactless stored value card used in Guangdong’s provincial capital, said over the weekend that it would “soon” accept payments via the Hong Kong Alipay service.
Hong Kong has its own version of Alipay – operated by Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post – which is separate from the mainland version.
Yang Cheng Tong has issued more than 100 million cards, used by an average 20 million people each day.
Its Hong Kong equivalent, the Octopus, has more than 35 million cards in circulation, which its operator says have reached 99 per cent people in the city.
Other key Greater Bay Area cities such as Shenzhen and Macau have their own systems, which are not compatible with each other.