Who is Octopus Cards Limited?
Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) is the operator of the Octopus contactless smart card used in an electronic payment system in Hong Kong.
The Octopus card is a contactless stored value card that is commonly used to pay for public transport and purchases at more than 22,000 retail outlets, online shopping, recreational facilities, vending machines, and self-service kiosks in Hong Kong.
- Over 99% of HK people (aged 15-64) own an Octopus card.
- More than 34 million active Octopus cards and products in circulation
- More than 14 million daily transactions, valued at over HK$203 million
The challenge
Target Hong Kong citizens and visitors by offering both the capacity to digitize existing Octopus cards and creating new ones into the mobile wallet
Convenience and hassle-free service to end-user yet maintain the stringent security requirement
The solution
Leveraging Thales' Gemalto TSH to securely digitize Octopus cards into Apple pay, Samsung Pay and Huawei pay, including the transfer of the balance and any associated loyalty programs.
Consumers can also easily top up his digitized Octopus card using the pre-added credit cards in the wallet, maximizing the convenience service provided by using Octopus.
Called Smart Octopus, this new mobile ticketing service enables consumers to securely pay and travel by simply tapping their Smart phones on an Octopus reader, regardless of their mobile operator.
How does Smart Octopus work?
To add Smart Octopus in these wallets installed on the device*, the consumer can either:
- Digitalize the existing On-Loan Octopus card and convert to Smart Octopus
- Create a Smart Octopus directly into the wallet
- In both cases, Smart Octopus's top-up can be done in-app with the pre-added credit cards, via Octopus Automatic Add Value Service or by cash at designated service providers.
Use-cases: transit, access control, retail and online payment
Watch Thales Gemalto Trusted Service Hub in action
The following videos illustrate how TSH enables and seamless user experience
- Download the octopus app, purchase a digital card or transfer your plastic card to Apple Pay or Samsung Pay or Huawei Pay
- Open Apple Pay or Samsung Pay, pick an Octopus card and star travelling
Check you updated balance in real time and anticipate your next move.
And it also works with swart watches!
The Benefits
With Smart Octopus in the mobile phone, users can easily access to public transport and pay for retail and online transactions conveniently!
- In line with Hong-Kong cashless strategy
- Innovative technology: add or top up Smart Octopus directly from the wallets
- Improve Octopus user experience: enjoy the convenience of mobile payment service by just bringing the mobile for transport and retail payment
*For the Samsung devices, please check on the Samsung & Octopus websites.