Worries over Octopus cards handling voucher sums

Octopus cards are "a bit outdated" to be used in handling government-issued consumption voucher sums, data scientist Wong Ho-wa claims, because they are not designed to process anything but modest amounts of money.

And he disagrees with the fact holders must bear losses for three hours after reporting the loss of a card.

Wong voiced his doubts after Octopus Cards Limited was selected to assist in disbursing in installments the HK$5,000 electronic consumption vouchers - a scheme announced in the 2021-22 budget with the aim of stimulating the economy amid the pandemic.

The company last month increased the stored value limit for a card to HK$3,000, from HK$1,000, enabling holders to make payments up to that sum in retail transactions.

And it is existing policy that a holder would have to bear liability for a loss within the first three hours of reporting a lost card.

Octopus operates in an offline mode "to ensure fast and convenient services for customers and it takes time to send files separately to all front-line processors to stop the use of a lost Octopus," the company said.

Wong noted that the time needed to freeze a card was "not ideal" as 15 minutes at the most was needed to do likewise to a credit card.

"I understand there might be technical considerations, but three hours is really a bit too long," he said.

"Octopus cards are not designed to facilitate big transactions involving HK$500 or HK$1,000 or more. It is for people to pay for transport or use at convenience stores for small transactions involving less than HK$100."

Beside Octopus, other selected stored-value facilities being used in the voucher scheme are AlipayHK, Tap and Go and WeChat Pay HK.

According to Tap and Go, customers do not bear the loss for an unauthorized transaction after reporting the loss of a card or a mobile device linked to it. WeChat Pay and Alipay also allow users to freeze accounts instantly upon the loss of an electronic device.

Wong reminded the public to be wary about giving out personal information. There could be long-term impacts to opening an account with personal information for the purpose of receiving voucher sums, he said.

Octopus told The Standard that customers can use on-loan cards - either anonymous or personalized - to receive the electronic consumption vouchers, while the report-loss service would be extended to cover anonymous Octopus cards during the time vouchers are being distributed.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com