HONG KONG, March 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Payment Asia, APAC leading payment solutions provider, recently released Hong Kong's annual payment trends and made predictions for the next year's payment trends. With the increasing updating of mobile payment methods and the gradual popularity of QR code payments, Hong Kong users will experience a smoother payment process in 2024.
The history of mobile phone payments can be traced back to 1994. With the popularity of smartphones, QR code payment has begun to develop rapidly around the world. Among all Payment Asia payment channels, mobile phone payment transaction volume has exceeded 60% of the total, and QR code payment accounts for more than 85% of the total.
In terms of QR code payment market share, Alipay and WeChat Pay are the market pioneers. Mainly because users are accustomed to using Taobao and other places and often use Alipay e-wallets, making QR code payment popular through e-wallets. Another reason is that after the epidemic, the number of mainland tourists has rebounded, and they will use QR codes to pay more, making more merchants accept this payment method. WeChat Pay benefits from its advantages as a communication software. Users open it more times per day, and it is easier to access the QR code payment built into the mobile application, which facilitates users to summon taxis, order takeaways and other functions.
In addition to Alipay and WeChat Pay, more payment channels have launched QR code payment services in recent years to fit people's usage habits. For example, UnionPay has launched the UnionPay QuickPass App in the Mainland and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, credit cards and ATM cards issued by many banks have supported the Hong Kong and Macau version of the UnionPay QuickPass App, driving the growth of QR code transactions. In addition, combined with the business model of UnionPay QuickPass in Hong Kong and Macau, UnionPay will open the QR code payment capabilities and expand usage scenarios of QuickPass to more local APPs, allowing more local APP users to scan UnionPay QR codes to pay.
After the full functionate between Hong Kong and the Mainland border in 2023, residents of the two places will have closer exchanges, and UnionPay transactions, especially QR code transactions, will grow rapidly. Data shows that UnionPay cardholders' shopping consumption in Hong Kong has recovered rapidly since customs clearance, and the overall number of offline transactions has nearly doubled year-on-year. Among them, UnionPay QR code transactions have increased nearly four times, and the growth rate is much faster than other QR codes. Payment channels.
Among various industries, the number of transactions in jewelry and watches, handbags and leather goods, hotels and duty-free shops has increased most significantly, reaching 3 to 6 times. The growth rate is much higher than that of other categories, second only to transportation, showing that Hong Kong shopping merchants are still very popular among mainland consumers. Tourists trust and favor. As for the number of transactions in the transportation category, the increase was as high as 11 times. The transactions mainly came from UnionPay QR codes. This rapid growth also benefited from UnionPay's mobile payment layout in Hong Kong's transportation field in recent years.
PayMe, another major QR code payment provider, also showed rapid growth in 2023. PayMe has evolved from personal P2P transfers to today's merchant collection and payment functions, and is more widely used in markets and other small consumption scenarios. According to analysis by Payment Asia's artificial intelligence assistant PACO, the Hong Kong public's increasing acceptance of local QR code wallets indicates their growing popularity.
FPS, the other local QR code payment method in Hong Kong, recently announced that it will be interconnected with PromptPay, the Central Bank of Thailand, for cross-border QR code payment. A total of 7 banks and 2 stored value payment instruments are participating in Hong Kong and Thailand's "FPS x PromptPay" "Payment method shows that QR code payment has greater room for growth in the future.
QR code payment will be the mainstream in Hong Kong in 2024
By 2024, mobile phone payments in Hong Kong are expected to continue to grow, driven by the increasing popularity of digital transactions. Among various forms of mobile phone payments, QR code payments will be a major contributor to this growth. The surge in QR code payments can be attributed to a number of factors, including the introduction of e-voucher schemes and the widespread use of mobile phone scanning capabilities and the simplicity and seamless user experience achieved through this method.
This year, QR code payment will be widely used in more fields, including catering, tourism, transportation and other industries. As consumers' demand for contactless payments increases, QR code payment will be favored by more people as a convenient and safe payment method. At the same time, cross-border payment will also become an important trend, and QR code payment can provide a convenient cross-border transaction experience. In the future, we are expected to see QR code payment integrated with other payment methods to form a complete payment ecosystem, bringing more convenience and choice. In short, QR code payment will continue to develop and become a mainstream payment method in 2024, bringing more convenience and security to our lives.
Financial institutions in other regions are exploring various forms of QR code payment. For example, the Monetary Authority of Singapore will upgrade the national shared payment QR code "SGQR+" concept certification test to allow local merchants to accept QR code payment methods from different payment systems through a single financial institution. The Monetary Authority of Singapore issued a statement stating that the national public payment QR code "SGQR" launched in 2018 combines different QR codes into one SGQR code label and has successfully encouraged more merchants to adopt it. Under the upgraded version of SGQR+, merchants only need to sign a contract with a financial institution to provide various local and overseas payment solutions to provide convenience to consumers and travelers. This will also become a reference for the development of QR code payment in Hong Kong.
Given the rapid transformation of the payments landscape, it is critical for Hong Kong merchants to adapt and adapt to the changing payments environment. As more and more customers adopt QR code payment methods, merchants must offer this convenient option to suit their preferences. Payment Asia will continue to provide customers with diverse, secure and user-friendly mobile payment solutions to effectively meet the changing needs and preferences of today's consumers.
AI technology saves 40% of sales costs within one year
In an era of rapid technological development, Payment Asia is leading the wave of smart solutions. Since adopting the artificial intelligence assistant PACO, the company's business operations have become more efficient. According to the latest statistics, PACO has successfully replaced nearly 80% of the company's inquiry work in the past year of operation, which is equivalent to the workload of about 10 salespeople.
The AI assistant also upgrades email reminders to conversation reminders, allowing customers to receive relevant information as soon as possible. Nearly 83% of customers will open a query as soon as they receive a conversation reminder. Compared with the previous email reminder, the reach rate was only 15%, which has been greatly improved.
The AI assistant PACO not only effectively reduced repeated consultations by 34%, but also significantly shortened the average conversation time from the previous 14 minutes to about 1 minute and 30 seconds. Through intelligent communication, customers and Payment Asia can communicate more efficiently, improving the overall service quality.
With PACO's active participation, the company expects to save nearly 40% of sales costs in the next year. This achievement is not only a milestone for the company, but also highlights the huge potential of AI technology in corporate operations. AI assistant PACO has become more than just a tool, it has become an important partner in promoting innovation and efficiency. Today, the company is actively exploring how to further integrate artificial intelligence technology to continue to improve customer experience and achieve more breakthroughs.
Looking forward to 2024, Payment Asia will cooperate with governments, banks, international credit card organizations, and various electronic wallets to provide merchants with a more convenient and faster user experience. As a third-party payment company, Payment Asia believes that the entire payment industry has two main focuses. First, in order to stay at the forefront of rapidly evolving payment solutions, it is critical for businesses to invest in and embrace the latest advancements in fintech. Through the development of technology, enterprises can maintain a competitive advantage and ensure that they can meet the needs of the modern digital economy.
Secondly, with the advancement of technology, sustainable development has become an increasingly important aspect of business operations in 2024. As companies strive to reduce their environmental footprint and promote responsible practices, payment processors must consider the environmental impact of their operations. By exploring and implementing sustainability strategies, such as optimizing energy use, reducing paper waste, and adopting environmentally friendly materials, businesses can contribute to a greener future while managing their payment processing systems.
Committed to excellence, Payment Asia aims to elevate payment standards in Hong Kong and set new benchmarks for efficiency, security, and customer experience. By staying ahead of emerging trends and technologies, Payment Asia is committed to providing innovative payment solutions to meet the ever-changing needs of businesses and consumers.
