Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) Administrative Committee member Henrietta Lau Hang Kun says that the city’s quasi-central bank plans to allow Alipay to be used to pay bus fares from next year so as to make it more convenient for tourists to travel around Macau.
Lau made the remarks during an oral interpellation plenary session on Friday in the legislature’s hemicycle, pointing out that in the next stage, the authority plans to coordinate with the Transport Bureau (DSAT) to support the acceptance of more electronic payment tools from overseas countries and regions to pay local bus fares.
Lau noted that most tourists in Macau use e-payment tools such as WeChat pay or Alipay, which is currently not accepted for bus fare payments.
The city’s two public bus operators accept the payment of fares via the “Bus Payment QR Code” generated by any means of payment integrated into “Simple Pay+”, namely, Alipay Macau, BOC Mobile Banking Macau, Guangfa Mobile Payment Wallet, ICBC ePay, LusoPay, MPay, Tai FungPay, UePay Macau E-Wallet and BNU Pay, as well as the “UnionPay APP” mobile app, with the granting of tariff benefits and free rides if changing buses within less than 45 minutes.
During the plenary session, New Hope lawmaker Che Sai Wang suggested the government improve the two-way top-up and transfer functions of MPay.
Lau noted that that the capital of Macau Pass S.A. has recently been increased to 100 million patacas, and pointed that the government will require the company to increase its capital even further. Lau also said that according to the data provided by Macau Pass, users only deposit, an average, several hundred patacas into their MPay accounts, which indicated that they tend to use MPay as a means of payment rather than to deposit large amounts of money.
Lau added that the bureau has required Macau Pass to submit annual audit reports, which require the company assets to be highly liquid.
Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) Administrative Committee member Henrietta Lau Hang Kun addresses Friday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
