E-vouchers Have Promoted Digital Economy, Says FS

Financial Secretary Paul Chan says the government’s spending voucher scheme has promoted electronic payment among both consumers and businesses, creating favourable conditions for the development of the digital economy.

Writing on his blog on Sunday, Chan said that since the launch of the scheme, more than six million consumers and 130,000 businesses had registered with e-payment platforms.

“As long as we grasp the opportunity offered by digitalisation, even when the business environment faces a headwind, we can still find a new world in which new businesses have room to grow,” he wrote.

Chan noted the next batch of e-vouchers will be handed out in the summer, and that BoC Pay and PayMe from HSBC will join Alipay HK, Octopus, Tap and Go, and WeChat Pay HK as payment platforms.

He said details would be announced in the coming week.

Hongkongers aged 18 and above are receiving HK$10,000 in e-vouchers this year after last year's HK$5,000 handout.