AlipayHK users to get government transport subsidies

In addition to Octopus, AlipayHK will be incorporated into the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, effective January 1, 2025, allowing citizens an extra electronic payment option under the scheme, the Transport Department announced Thursday.

Public transport coverage of AlipayHK under the scheme includes MTR railway services (except Airport Express, Light Rail and MTR Buses); franchised buses (including Citybus, KMB, Long Win Bus and New Lantao Bus); trams; 11 designated ferry routes; and 175 designated green minibus routes.

When members of the public traveling on major public transport services pay for single journey fares with AlipayHK EasyGo or take MTR services by using the QR Code on the "MTR Mobile" application with AlipayHK as the payment source, the relevant fares will be eligible for the calculation of public transport fare subsidies.

Subsidy calculation for AlipayHK users will be the same as those using Octopus. The government will provide a subsidy amounting to one-third of the actual monthly public transport expenses in excess of HK$400, subject to a maximum of HK$400 per month for each AlipayHK account.

From the 16th of each month, AlipayHK users can collect the subsidy of the previous month via the AlipayHK mobile application. The period for collecting the subsidy is three months.