The government today announced earlier today that Octopus, AlipayHK, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK have been chosen as the payment providers for the electronic voucher scheme.

The card reader will be connected to a smartphone set up by the Octopus company, and the phone will transfer the money back to the shops, unlike the usual set-up with wires, according to Tien.

New clients of Octopus will not be charged any transaction fee within the valid period of the e-vouchers, he added. Tien also said he suggested Octopus to refund transaction fee back to its old clients, based on the weighting of e-vouchers over all transactions within the period.

Tien pointed out that as the stored value is capped at HK$3,000 per card, citizens will most likely get their vouchers in two times, for example HK$2,500 each time. Citizens can then get their remaining vouchers 2 months after their first withdrawal, he continued.