Press Release

Octopus Fully Supports the New Round of Consumption Voucher Scheme (Phase 2)

Committed to Helping the General Public and Retail Merchants to Benefit from the Vouchers

(Hong Kong, 1 May 2022) Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) welcomes the HKSAR Government's announcement of the New Round of Consumption Voucher Scheme (Phase 2). As a stored value facility operator under the Government's Consumption Voucher Scheme, OCL will provide full support to the Government by helping members of the public and retail merchants to be able to conveniently use the consumption vouchers. In last year's Consumption Voucher Scheme, 70% of the public chose Octopus to receive consumption vouchers and we welcome these customers to continue using Octopus (including physical Octopus cards, electronic Octopus cards on iPhone and Apple Watch, Samsung Pay, Huawei Pay) to receive the new round of consumption vouchers. OCL will also carry on helping small- and medium-sized merchants affected by the pandemic by extending fee waivers so as to ride out the difficult times together.

Octopus is Hong Kong's most popular and widely recognised payment tool serving a broad range of merchant categories. There are more than 150,000 Octopus acceptance points in Hong Kong, covering a diverse variety of consumption needs. Customers can use any Octopus Card (including JoyYou Card) to register for the new round of consumption vouchers (Phase 2), and the vouchers will be distributed as Octopus stored value.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the retail, F&B and service industries, especially merchants operating in the smaller neighbourhoods. OCL will continue to exempt those small- and medium-sized merchants and taxi drivers who have signed up the Octopus App for Business in 2021 from bank account fund transfer fees until further notice. New merchants may also enjoy the waiver for the first six months when they successfully apply for the Octopus App for Business. In addition, OCL will continue its efforts on the #NeighbourDOOD Merchant Support Scheme to drive digital transformation of the city's small neighbourhood retailers, including setting up a social media business account and creating a tailored digital promotion strategy for each selected merchant.

Rita Li, OCL's Sales & Marketing Director, said, “As the top choice for the general public to use consumption vouchers, Octopus will align with the Government's plan to serve Hong Kong residents so that they can fully benefit from the new round of consumption vouchers. The ongoing pandemic has indeed affected small- and medium-sized merchants; and we are committed to supporting them, including targeted promotions to encourage the public to spend at these merchants, and continuing our #NeighbourDOOD Merchant Support Scheme to address merchants' operational challenges through digital transformation. We will further roll out merchant offers to motivate customers to use their vouchers, details of which will be shared through Octopus App and other channels.”

 

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1. Rita Li, OCL's Sales & Marketing Director, said OCL will provide full support to the Government by helping members of the public and retail merchants to be able to conveniently use the consumption vouchers.
   

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