The Octopus card was launched by the MTR Corporation in September 1997 after three months of trial - and before the end of the year, three million cards had been issued.

The huge initial take-off was driven by a requirement on all commuters to change their existing common stored value cards used on buses and trains since the 1980s for Octopus cards or face losing the money on them.

Another reason for the early success of the Octopus card was that it was launched at a time when there was a coin shortage in Hong Kong with many people hoarding older Queen's Head coins in the belief they would soar in value after the handover.

By November 1998, a little over a year after its launch, 4.6 million cards had been issued. By 2000, most KMB bus journeys were being paid for by Octopus rather than cash, and by January 2002, there were 9 million cards in circulation.

(HK Edition 01/06/2011 page4)