A man touches his wallet to an Octopus stored-value card reader as he exits a mass transit railway (MTR) station in Hong Kong on Aug 5, 2010.
(ED JONES / AFP)
HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government said on Wednesday that it has disbursed the first HK$2,000 consumption voucher to about 810,000 eligible people who completed their electronic registration on or after July 18.
A government spokesman said in a statement that the vouchers were disbursed via the four stored value platforms – AlipayHK, Tap & Go, WeChat Pay HK, and Octopus. Recipients will be notified through SMS mobile app push notifications.
Together with the first batch of 5.5 million people who got their voucher on Aug 1, a total of about 6.3 million people have benefited from the program
He added that, together with the first batch of 5.5 million people who got their voucher on Aug 1, a total of about 6.3 million people have benefited from the program.
For people who chose to collect the vouchers via AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK, the HK$2,000 vouchers have been directly injected into their specified stored value facility accounts, which will be separated from the existing e-wallet in the account.
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When making payments, they only need to open the app and choose whether to use the vouchers, and then pay as usual, the spokesman said.
Those who chose to collect the vouchers via Octopus cards may collect the HK$2,000 voucher by tapping the card at the Subsidy Collection Points of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme at MTR stations, Light Rail Customer Service Centres, designated piers and public transport interchanges; designated convenience stores and supermarkets; Octopus Service Points; or via Octopus app within three months from today.
The voucher will be combined with the value stored in the Octopus card.
In general, the vouchers can be used at local retail, catering and service outlets or online platforms which accept payments by the four designated SVFs, such as retail shops, market stalls, department stores, supermarkets, and restaurants.
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However, the vouchers cannot be used for payments to the government, public utilities, public organizations, education expenses, purchase of financial products or services, donations, direct purchases from merchants located outside Hong Kong, person to person payments, and encashments.
The spokesman added that if merchants accept payments through any of the four SVFs under the program, they cannot reject the use of consumption vouchers through that facility or impose additional fees.