Blog

Electronic consumption voucher

On this Father's Day, may I wish all the fathers joy and good health, and a relaxing holiday with your family.

Details of the Consumption Voucher Scheme were announced last week. This is a measure launched in Hong Kong for the first time, covering 7.2 million citizens, over 100 000 merchants and different application scenarios. The whole operation system has to be built from scratch. Knowing that citizens are very concerned about the details of the Scheme, we have been carrying out briefings for different groups of people to explain the related arrangements. Relevant information has also been uploaded to the dedicated website of the Scheme for public access.

Details of the Consumption Voucher Scheme were announced last week.

Over the past few days, I have come across some frequently asked questions on registration and the using of vouchers in the press conference, TV and radio programmes and different briefings. I shall take this opportunity to make some elaborations on those areas.

What is the specific requirement of "residing in Hong Kong"?
"Residing in Hong Kong" refers to a person who has a presence in Hong Kong within the two years immediately before 18 June 2021. This arrangement has taken account the fact that some citizens may have their returning plans to Hong Kong affected by the pandemic. The following are exempted from the above requirement and hence are deemed to fulfil the eligibility criteria - Students studying abroad and participants of the Working Holiday Scheme administered by the Labour Department, or recipients of assistance under the Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, allowance under the Guangdong Scheme, or allowance under the Fujian Scheme.
If I choose Octopus to receive the electronic consumption vouchers, do I need to use a personalised Octopus card?
No. Both personalised Octopus cards and non-personalised standard Octopus cards are accepted for registering consumption vouchers.
After submitting electronic registration, will there be any SMS notification?
Yes. SMS notification will be sent to the local mobile phone number that you provided. It will include a reference number for use in further enquiries.
For AlipayHK, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK, after receiving the first voucher of $2,000, can I use it together with the second voucher of $3,000 for a bigger spending?
Yes.

I attended a community activity and learned more about the situation of elderly people in using mobile phone and e-wallet.

Many elderly people are also concerned about the details of registration and the using of the consumption vouchers. During my chat with some senior citizens yesterday, they expressed interests in learning new things and were excited to share their plan in using the vouchers. While some of them tended to use Octopus cards for receiving the consumption vouchers, some were keen to learn to receive and use the vouchers through e-wallet in smart phone. Indeed some of them are veteran users that are very familiar with the application of stored value facilities (SVFs) in smart phone.

Electronic consumption voucher has recently become a hot topic in internet search. While some people are focusing on the registration and using of the vouchers, many others are already making plans on how to spend them, like buying gifts for family members and eat out with friends. Concessions and promotions to be offered by SVFs operators and other merchants also draw people's attention. It is expected that the using of the vouchers will boost the businesses of local retail, catering and other services sectors. More importantly, the Scheme could help promote the wider use of SVFs and expedite the establishment of e-payment platform and the development of digital economy in Hong Kong.

With the participation of over 7 million citizens, let us spend together to promote the use of e-payment in Hong Kong and speed up economic recovery. This mass participation will create demands and incentives for more small and medium sized merchants to adopt e-payment and thus enjoy the related opportunities of growth. With the concerted efforts of the Government, business sector and the community, the development and wider use of e-payment system in Hong Kong will gain its full speed. As e-payment and online sales will become the major impetus of growth for the future global economy, let us spend together to help Hong Kong progress on the right direction to success.

June 22, 2021