WeChat and Alipay have once again stepped up their game by providing cashless payments for the taxi drivers in Hong Kong. The 40,000 strong taxi industry was an untapped audience for the cashless payments giant, Octopus. WeChat and Alipay are investing heavily in marketing campaigns after realizing the potential of the market.
The cabbies in Hong Kong have earlier been known to rely strictly only on cash as their primary method of payment. But of late, they have started embracing alternative payment methods to attract more customers. Afterall, this is the era of digital innovations and breakthroughs! This provides a huge market for WeChat and Alipay, especially when the drivers are unhappy with the administrative charges levied by Octopus for their cashless payment service.
WeChat Pay has even advertised on a couple of taxis to create awareness and to encourage more cabbies to adopt their e-payment service. On the other hand, Alipay aims to encourage mainland tourists to adopt their payment method. This is perfect because, the city is witnessing a large number of tourist populations and solo travellers and an increasing demand for easy transportation and payment methods.
So far, almost 1,000 taxis have signed up for WeChat HK while 1,500 taxis have signed up for Alipay.
With the e-payment race gaining momentum, who do you think will emerge as the king of cashless payments in the taxi industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!