Hong Kong’s Heng Sang Bank announced the launch of its NFC mobile-payment service Thursday, a few days before its deadline to launch the service before the end of the first half of the year.
Heng Sang, one of Hong Kong’s largest banks, said the service would be available for purchases up to HK$500 (US$64.45), at about 1,000 outlets in the district and locations would grow to 2,500 by the end of August, including 7-Eleven convenience stores, IKEA furniture stores, Mannings retail pharmacies, Wellcome supermarkets and Pizza Hut fast-food restaurants. Hang Seng and mobile operator PCCW had announced plans for the service in November.
The bank said the service would be available on a number of NFC-enabled Android phones, including the Galaxy S4 LTE, and LTE and other versions of the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, as well as the LG Optimus G Pro and Sony Xperia Z. Plans call for expanding the list of smartphones.
Customers of Hang Seng, with MasterCard-branded cards, would need to get an NFC SIM card from PCCW mobile shops. The bank said there would be no extra charge for PCCW subscribers to exchange their existing SIM for an NFC SIM.
Then they would download the Hang Seng Mobile Payment App from the Google Play store to their phones and download their Hang Seng mobile card. The app can store multiple cards, said the bank.
PCCW said last November when the project was announced that the NFC SIMs would comply with the single-wire protocol. “In addition to payment, there are immense possibilities for NFC applications in the future,” said the telco. “For instance, consumers can turn an SWP-SIM mobile phone into an electronic wallet to keep e-discount coupons and loyalty card information for instant reward points. Consumers may also receive e-ticketing over the air, or access additional information by tapping onto an NFC tag attached to a product or event promotional poster.”
The bank's mobile payment app also enables users to view their 20 most recent transactions, said Hang Seng, which is majority owned by HSBC Group.
In a separate project, HSBC bank in Hong Kong last fall said it launched a Visa payWave credit card service with and NFC-enabled iPhone attachment. There were reportedly more than 9,000 payWave POS terminals in Hong Kong at the time, and it’s not clear how many terminals also support PayPass in Hong Kong. The figure for 1,000 PayPass acceptance points in Hong Kong that Hang Seng released, is for locations, not terminals. The HSBC service uses the iCarte from Canada-based Wireless Dynamics.
Other Hong Kong banks are also believed to be gearing up to offer NFC payment.