The Octopus card is ubiquitous in Hong Kong and an indispensable part of living in this city – and soon, it might also be available in Hongkongers’ favourite holiday destination. Octopus announced at a media luncheon earlier this week that they are currently trying to bring its digital payment to Japan for the convenience of Hong Kong tourists.
As the payment platform works on expanding overseas, Octopus is in talks with major Japanese e-payment platforms with the goal of tourists being able to use the Octopus app to pay for goods and services in Japan by the end of this year. The plan is for Hong Kong users to scan QR codes provided by shops, and payments to be automatically converted to Hong Kong dollars, then deducted from their Octopus accounts. Simply topping up e-wallets in-app instead of having to bother with currency exchange is going to save a fair bit of travel hassle.
According to the company, approximately 98 percent of Hongkongers possess an Octopus card and there are over 20 million cards in circulation, with almost half of Hongkongers using the mobile app – this means that almost every single Hong Kong tourist that lands in Japan will already own and use this form of payment. Should discussions go well, we might be able to start tapping our mobile Octopuses in Japanese stores by the last quarter of 2025, though a company spokesperson said they are hoping to aim for a Q3 launch.
This comes after Octopus launched agreements with PromptPay in 2023 and Zero Pay in 2024, allowing for the usage of Octopus payments in Thailand and South Korea, respectively.
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