Cashless society — we aren’t that backward

Many tech people have complained that Hong Kong is falling far behind other economies in becoming a cashless society. Let’s just assume that cashless is good and try to find out if Hong Kong is indeed that backward.

We understand that the biggest progress toward becoming cashless is being made in some African countries. That’s born out of necessity because the banking systems in those countries have remained too underdeveloped to satisfy the needs of the people.

Hong Kong has highly efficient and, in most cases, cost effective banking facilities that emphasize service. There are the occasional long queues of customers waiting to be served at some bank branches in densely populated districts. But, nobody seems to mind too much because the need to go to a bank has been greatly minimized by the wide availability of automated teller machines. Besides, online banking through proprietary applications of individual banks has become increasingly popular. Other than withdrawing cash, most of the banking services required by the average customer can now be done online in the comfort of the home or office.

Many Hong Kong people who’ve been using Octopus cards to pay for transportation and grocery shopping may not realize that the service has been around for two decades. At one time, it was considered the most advanced in the region, setting a standard of convenience that neighboring economies tried to emulate.

But, Octopus is now widely criticized as too conservative in adding new payment services to the card. Octopus is not to be blamed for causing Hong Kong to fall behind other cities in payment service innovation. Indeed, it was among the first in the world to adopt NFC, or near field communication, technology that is now widely used by the likes of Apple and Google in their payment applications.

The problem lies in convincing neighborhood vendors of the benefit of accepting Octopus for payment of goods and services. The reluctance of the vendors and eateries is understandable because the charges they have to pay to Octopus can seriously erode their already very thin profit margins. Their customers in the neighborhood don’t seem to mind paying cash.

That’s fine. There’re many choices for those consumers who don’t like carrying a lot of cash around. Hong Kong isn’t really that backward a city.

PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Hong Kong’s unique Octopus smart card — the city’s pioneering cashless payment system — has been in use for two decades, but is seen as being too conservative.