Voucher hopes reinforced by talks with e-payment players

The city's two biggest banks could be used for a possible second round of consumption vouchers as the government begins meeting with the operators, sources say.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, ahead of the budget speech on February 23, has said he remains open-minded giving out vouchers this year.

And sources said the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau have set up meetings with operators of electronic payment platforms so they could introduce new players to the scheme.

Four platforms participated in last year's HK$5,000 voucher scheme: Octopus, Tap & Go, AliPay and WeChat Pay.

Officials are said to have indicated they would retain some of the four operators.

Bank of China, with its platform BoC Pay, could be one of the potential new operators. Although the bank is not a license holder as a stored value facility, it is able to handle huge payment transactions as the second-largest bank in Hong Kong. It is understood the bank is considering whether to apply for a stored value facility license.

As for HSBC's PayMe, which has more than 2.5 million users, a spokesman said the company has always supported initiatives that help develop e-payments in the city.

A source said PayMe was not selected last year as it lagged the four platforms in user number. But it has since partnered with more businesses, such as takeaway platforms.

Chan said the government used HK$30 billion to distribute vouchers for some 6.9 million people last year, and it helped the revive the economy.

But when lawmakers asked Chan to do distribute vouchers again this year, he said it must be though over in a comprehensive manner as the scheme involves a large sum of public money.

The economy and the pandemic situation will also be factored in, he added.

leone.xue@singtaonewscorp.com