Octopus Cards fosters cross-border travel with China T-Union card

To foster cross-border travelling, Octopus Cards has unveiled the pilot programme “Octopus – China T-Union card” (全國通卡), allowing Hongkongers to use the Octopus card on public transport in more than 336 cities across the country covered by China T-Union transport network.

Customers will be able to join this pilot programme by purchasing the card and using it to pay for transport fares anywhere in the Mainland with the China T-Union logos, excluding retail payments. Octopus – China T-Union Cards will be made available at all Circle K stores and designated MTR Customer Service Centres from 26 March.

They can top up their cards in Hong Kong dollars through the Octopus app and automatic add value service (AAVS) or with cash at designated locations such as public transport venues, retail outlets and Shenzhen UnionPay EPS kiosks. 

Furthermore, users should top up in Hong Kong dollars while fares are deducted in Renminbi. The card is automatically updated with the market foreign exchange rate effective on the top-up date or during balance enquiry through the Octopus app by tapping the card on the back of their mobile device.

In Hong Kong, the card works the same way as an ordinary Octopus card and is accepted at all Octopus acceptance points for areas such as transportation, shopping, and dining.

For inbound visitors to Hong Kong can also use the national Renminbi (RMB) transit card to pay bus fares for the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge shuttle bus in the direction from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macao.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Octopus for more information. 

Back in February, Octopus Cards joined forces with Mastercard to enable travellers to conveniently top up their mobile Octopus cards using any Mastercard card, allowing them to “pay like a local”.

This came as Mastercard Economics Institute’s “2024 economic outlook: balancing prices and priorities” shows that the macro picture for the year is expected to be one of modest growth. Against the backdrop of cross-border travel recovery, Mastercard's partnership with Octopus marks a pivotal development in its "pay like a local” initiative.

By leveraging Mastercard as the payment option in the Octopus app for tourists, Mastercard cardholders can top up mobile Octopus in their iPhone or Apple Watch, and better experience the city with Octopus contactless payments at over 180,000 acceptance points, covering an array of activities such as transport, dining, entertainment and shopping.

On the other hand, Octopus Cards expanded digital payments in Hong Kong taxis by enabling 21,000 Hong Kong taxi drivers to accept QR payments from UnionPay, AlipayHK and Alipay through the Octopus app for business and Octopus mobile point of sales. It aims to allow mainland visitors and Hong Kong residents to have more options to pay for their taxi rides.

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