During the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area Youth Camp Tencent Day, Pony Ma, the Founder as well as Chairman and CEO of Tencent, said that next year Tencent and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will have more cooperation to promote mobile payment in Hong Kong. 

First of all, the user habits of bank cards in Hong Kong and on the Mainland are not the same and that is where Tencent made changes. On the Mainland, people can only use debit cards to send out red envelopes by WeChat or QQ wallet. However, Hong Kong users mainly use credit cards. In order to let Hong Kong users use Tencent’s products more conveniently, Tencent specifically enables Hong Kong credit cards in WeChat or QQ wallet to send out red envelopes within a certain amount.

Secondly, Pony said that Tencent will try to bring mobile payment to more offline stores in Hong Kong this year. “In fact, competition in the mobile payment market in Hong Kong is fiercer than we think. Many merchants have signed exclusive contracts before this year, so we will try to approach them after that exclusive period. Our overseas business development team is relatively small, so we don’t want to use a huge-crowd strategy but we insist the product first or third-party power with such play.”

Talking about cooperation with the Hong Kong government, Pony expressed his hope that in the future, he can explore more financial innovations with the government, connect domestic traditional banks and start new cooperation with overseas banks, to create convenient financial applications which are compliant with local laws and regulatory policies. He hopes that Tencent can bring more convenient and efficient experiences to Hong Kong users through advanced financial technology.

Recently Tencent has launched WeChat Pay Hong Kong (WeChat Hong Kong Wallet) for local users in Hong Kong. Users can connect all Hong Kong Visa and Mastercard credit cards with WeChat Pay Hong Kong, and then use Hong Kong dollars to pay, transfer, send and receive red envelopes, etc. In the future, WeChat Pay Hong Kong will access to more bank accounts and expand offline businesses to provide Hong Kong users with more convenient mobile payment services. 

WeChat Hong Kong Wallet is relying on the Hong Kong WeChat, which is a mobile payment tools specifically developed for Hong Kong users. In August 2016, Tencent won the first batch of third-party payment licenses issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. 

WeChat Wallet in Hong Kong is the same model as that in Mainland China. Users who register WeChat with Hong Kong mobile numbers can use it by default. Users can check in "WeChat - My Wallet". WeChat users who register WeChat with Chinese mobile numbers need to verify Hong Kong mobile phone numbers or connect their credit cards in Hong Kong. 

Tips: Hong Kong wallet and the Mainland WeChat wallet are currently independent of each other, and the funds are not in the same wallet, but users can switch the wallets by clicking[...] in the upper right corner of the wallet page - switch wallet area –and selecting "China" or "Hong Kong, China".

What kind of features are in the Hong Kong WeChat wallet? From sending and receiving red envelopes, money transfers, QR code payments, purchasing traffic tickets to seven other types of services online, users can enjoy convenient services without leaving home. 

In addition, users can recharge their WeChat Hong Kong wallet through all 7-Eleven convenience stores in Hong Kong by requesting the shop assistant to scan the QR code to enable cash top up. 

In the future, WeChat Hong Kong Wallet will have access to more banks, support the connection of more bank accounts, and focus on expanding offline merchants. For merchants of different sizes, they will launch credit card payment, face payment and other payment functions. Then Hong Kong users can enjoy more convenient offline mobile payment experiences.