A total of HK$10,000 consumption vouchers will be distributed to each Hong Kong eligible citizen this year. According to be Budget, the first phase of the HK$5,000 vouchers was released in April. The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, said in his blog today (June 12) that details of the second phase of the Consumption Voucher Scheme would be announced this week, including the addition of BoC Pay and PayMe from HSBC, two new operators of stored-value payment tools. The public can enjoy the most benefits, maximize the leverage effect of the vouchers, and promote the development of electronic payments.
Chan also said that the acceptance and adoption of e-payment and e-transactions by the public and merchants alike had increased. Since the launch of the Voucher Scheme last year, the major stored value payment platforms have added about 6.6 million consumer accounts and about 130,000 merchant users.
Chan said that the vouchers had made electronic payments increasingly popular among consumers and merchants, providing a favorable environment for accelerating the development of the digital economy. He said that the Government's Digital Economy Development Committee was nearing the end of its preparatory work and looked forward to working closely with representatives from the industry and academia to lay the foundation for the continued upgrading and transformation of Hong Kong's economy in the future.
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