HSBC takes on Alipay, WeChat Pay with new PayMe service for Hong Kong businesses
- 15 Hong Kong retailers can now accept payments using the peer-to-peer payment system
- Hong Kong’s biggest bank is in beta testing for PayMe business payments
HSBC said on Thursday that it had begun beta testing of its PayMe System for businesses, with 15 retailers in Hong Kong now able to accept payments from customers using the e-wallet app.
The small businesses, ranging from cafes and restaurants to a perfume boutique and a photographer, have been testing the system with HSBC staffers for about two months, Greg Chapman, head of PayMe, said.
The expansion to business customers adds PayMe to an increasingly crowded field of mobile payment services already operating in Hong Kong.
On Thursday, the system went live for retailers to begin accepting payments from the public, Chapman said.
“What we want to make sure of is that we’re meeting the needs of Hong Kong consumers,” said Greg Hingston, HSBC’s head of retail banking and wealth management for Hong Kong. “If consumers feel that a wallet in the mobile phone is the most convenient way to make payments, that’s what we want to provide them with.”