It is the first such type of robbery handled by the police in Hong Kong, where the arrested robbed electronic money instead of cash.

The robbery took place on Sunday, as the 31-year-old man surnamed Yung broke into a 7-Eleven at Mody Square in Tsim Sha Tsui East at around midnight.

He threatened a female staff with a 20cm-long knife he stole from a supermarket and ordered her to add HK$10,000 to his WeChat Pay HK account.

The female staffer failed to do so as the amount exceeded the transaction limit. Yung, who used to work at 7-Eleven operated the machine on his own and managed to add HK$5,000 into the account. He then threw away the knife and escaped on Mody Road.

After investigation, officers intercepted Yung and his 48-year-old friend surnamed Fung in Hung Hom in the early hours on Wednesday. They arrested Yung for robbery and theft.

Officer also found small amount of “ice” drug and brass knuckles in Fung's possession. They then arrested Fung as well for possessing dangerous drug and prohibited weapon. He was not related to this case and had been released on bail.

Police said it is the first time they ever heard of robbing money via electronic payment platforms in recent years. They added investigation was challenging as the security cameras of the store were broken at that time.

Officers also pointed out that the WeChat Pay account Yung transferred the money into was not registered under his name. Police believed the robbers cash in the money by transferring the sum among different accounts.

They are still searching for the account holder. Investigation is ongoing and police didn't rule out more arrests to be made.

The robber is currently remanded for questioning.