With the announcement made by Google on Android Pay today, this makes Hong Kong one of the first few markets in Asia Pacific to have this mobile payment option. Consumers in Hong Kong can now pay with their Visa cards from participating issuers, using Android devices that are NFC enabled and that run on KitKat 4.4 or higher to pay at stores and within apps, making mobile payment an easy and secure way to pay.
“With a mobile subscriber penetration rate reaching 227.9 percent and nearly 17 million mobile subscribers in Hong Kong, this makes it natural for people to use mobiles for payments. With the introduction of Android Pay, it will help displace cash and propel electronic payments in the city. Visa is pleased to work with Google to introduce Android Pay, enabled by Visa Token Service for secure payments,” said Caroline Ada, Country Manager of Visa Hong Kong and Macau.
“Hongkongers love mobile — with almost 8 out of 10 (79 percent) owning a smartphone — and are some of the fastest adopters of new products and technology in the world. We’re excited to bring the simplicity and security of mobile payments to Hong Kong with Android Pay. People can now easily tap and pay with Android smartphones in stores and in apps when they’re on-the-go,” said Leonie Valentine, Managing Director of Sales and Operations, Google Hong Kong.
Android Pay is compliant with EMVCo standards. Visa Token Service (VTS) standard, a security technology that replaces cardholder information, such as account numbers and expiration dates, with a unique digital identifier (a “token”) that can be used for payment without exposing a cardholder’s more sensitive account information. Tokenisation hides consumers’ confidential account information during digital transactions, making digital payments more secure for everyone, everywhere. Each time a consumer makes a purchase with a card issued by a participating financial institution through a mobile phone, a token and not the actual account number is used to authenticate the consumer and authorise the purchase. The tokenisation process is designed to happen in the background in a way that is seamless and secure to the consumer.
Android Pay is easy to set up. Customers can simply download Android Pay from Google Play, and add Visa cards to Android Pay. Customers can then pay in-store by waking up their phone and placing it near a contactless reader.
