When cash is no longer king

A cashless economy is fast catching up with businesspeople and travelers worldwide. For Hong Kong people making regular trips to the Chinese mainland, the matter is of particular concern to them as online and mobile payments are already ubiquitous nationwide. Chai Hua reports from Hong Kong.

Andy Chong is dead set on not taking chances. He embarked on a grueling exercise this month when he set off on a business trip to Beijing, thoroughly researching and scrutinizing various mobile payment tools that are used and accepted on the Chinese mainland.

Worries about being unable to make payments, not using the right payment methods, and having to equip his smartphone with the relevant apps loomed large in his mind. These are some of the most critical matters Hong Kong people have to deal with when heading north.

Even with all the preparations, Chong recalls encountering problems as soon as he got off an airplane on the mainland. A self-vending machine failed to recognize his Hong Kong travel document, let alone accept payment, when he tried to purchase an Airport Express ticket for a ride downtown.

"Luckily, a ticketing clerk advised me to pay in cash. For the next few days, my AlipayHK app worked smoothly at most places, including shops and restaurants, although, on some occasions, I still had to pay in cash," he says.

"I would advise other Hong Kong travelers to the mainland to familiarize themselves first with how to make digital or mobile payments there, especially in using public transportation."

A cashless economy and society based on widely adopted digital payments in China has amazed the world, but it could be a headache for overseas visitors in view of the lack of direct access to such services.

The best way to travel around the country without any hindrance is to open mainland accounts on third-party digital payment platforms, which require users to have a bank debit card issued on the mainland and a local phone number registered under their own names. They have to apply for them personally at a bank and a telecommunication service provider shop on the mainland.

To help travelers, some Hong Kong banks have launched a new service that allows them to apply for bank cards through a "witness service" in the special administrative region. But, this often takes more than a week, and a phone number that can receive short messages on the mainland is still essential.

With the full resumption of normal travel between the SAR and the mainland, bilateral personnel exchanges have accelerated, along with the need for electronic cross-boundary payment tools. To deal with the pressing problem, many market players offer various solutions for Hong Kong residents, avoiding the inconvenience of opening payment accounts on the mainland.

However, they're still tough nuts to crack. The solutions aren't comprehensive enough, and are fragmented and concentrated on merchandise consumption in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong travelers still have to worry about whether their QR codes will be accepted each time they make a transaction on the mainland. Industry pundits believe that payment tools with more functions - ranging from purchasing transportation tickets to paying for public service fees, and covering more numerous locations - are urgently called for.