# Octopus card

Canonical: https://web4.xpay.bi/en/wiki/wp-en-267624/

Language: en

Published: 2026-10-30T17:25:44.741Z

Updated: 2026-10-30T17:25:44.741Z

The Octopus card (Chinese: 八達通; Jyutping: baat3 daat6 tung1, Cantonese) is a reusable contactless stored value smart card for making electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong. Launched in September 1997 to collect fares for the territory's public transport system, it has grown into a widely used system for transport and other retail transactions in Hong Kong. It is al

## Key facts

## Overview

The Octopus card (Chinese: 八達通; Jyutping: baat3 daat6 tung1, Cantonese) is a reusable contactless stored value smart card for making electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong. Launched in September 1997 to collect fares for the territory's public transport system, it has grown into a widely used system for transport and other retail transactions in Hong Kong. It is also used for purposes such as recording school attendance and permitting building access. As of 2016, the cards are used by 98 percent of the population of Hong Kong aged 15 to 64 and the system handles more than 14 million transactions, worth over HK$180 million, every day. The Octopus card system was the world's second contactless smart card system, after the Korean Upass. It won the Chairman's Award at the World Information Technology and Services Alliance's 2006 Global IT Excellence Awards for, among other things, being the world's leading complex automatic fare collection and contactless smart card payment system. Its success led to the development of similar systems elsewhere, including Navigo card in Paris, Oyster card in London, Opal card in New South Wales, and NETS FlashPay and EZ-Link in Singapore.

## History

When Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR) began operations in 1979, it used recirculating magnetic stripe cards as fare tickets. The Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) adopted the same magnetic cards in 1984. The Common Stored Value Ticket was a version that held a balance for use over multiple trips. In 1989, the Common Stored Value Ticket system was extended to Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) buses providing a feeder service to MTR and KCR stations, and to Citybus. It was also extended to a limited number of non-transport applications, such as transactions and payments at photo booths and for fast food vouchers. In 1993, MTR Corporation announced it would move to use contactless smart cards. In 1994 it partnered with four other major transit companies in Hong Kong, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, Kowloon Motor Bus, Citybus, and Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry, to create a joint-venture business, then known as Creative Star Limited. After three years of trials, the Octopus card was launched on 1 September 1997. Three million cards were issued in the first three months. The system's quick success was because MTR and KCR required all holders of Common Stored Value Tickets to replace them with Octopus cards within three months or have their tickets expire. Another reason was a coin shortage in Hong Kong in 1997. With the transfer of Hong Kong away from British rule, there was a belief that older Hong Kong coins embossed with Queen Elizabeth II's head would rise in value, so many people held on to them waiting for their value to increase. The Octopus system was quickly adopted by other Creative Star partners. KMB reported that by 2000 most bus journeys were completed using an Octopus card. Boarding a bus in Hong Kong without using the Octopus card requires giving exact change, making it cumbersome compared to using the Octopus card. By November 1998, 4.6 million cards had been issued, and rising to 9 million by January 2002. In 2000, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted a deposit-taking company licence to the operator. This increased the proportion of permitted non-transport–related Octopus card transactions from 15% of turnover to 50%. About HK$416 million was deposited in the Octopus system at any given time as of 2000. On 6 November 2005, Octopus Cards Limited launched Octopus Rewards, a program that allows cardholders to earn rewards with participating merchants. Founding partners for the Octopus Rewards program included HSBC, UA Cinemas and Wellcome. The rewards are in the form of points, or reward dollars, stored on the card. The rate at which reward points are earned per dollar spent differs between merchants. Reward points can be redeemed as payment for purchases at partner merchants for at least HK$1 per reward dollar.

New cards with greater levels of security were launched in 2015. Holders of first generation cards could voluntarily replace their cards at an Octopus Service Point without charge. From January 2018, first generation cards started to become unusable. In March 2024, Octopus Card Limited launched a version of the Octopus card with support for the China T-union network, allowing the holder to pay for public transport fares in 336 cities of Inland China. The card is topped up using HKD and automatically converted into RMB when taking non-Hong-Kong public transport.

## Etymologies and logo

The Cantonese name for the Octopus card, Baat Daaht Tùng (八達通), translates literally as "eight-arrived pass", where Baat Daaht may translate as "reaching everywhere". Less literally, the meaning is taken as the "go-everywhere pass". It was selected by the head of the MTR Corporation, the parent company of Octopus Cards Limited, in a naming competition in 1996. The number eight refers to the cardinal and ordinal directions, and the four-character idiom sei tùng baat daaht (Chinese: 四通八達), a common expression loosely translated as "reachable in all directions". Eight is also considered a lucky number in Chinese culture, and the phrase baat daaht can possibly be associated with the similar-sounding faat daaht, which means "getting wealthy" (發達) in Cantonese. The English name Octopus card was also selected in the naming competition. It also references the number eight, since an octopus has eight tentacles. The logo used on the card features an infinity symbol.

## Card usage

The Octopus card was originally introduced for fare payment on the MTR; but usage quickly expanded to other retail businesses in Hong Kong. The card is now commonly used in most public transport, fast food restaurants, supermarkets, vending machines, convenience stores, photo booths, parking meters, car parks, and many other retails business where small payments are frequently made. Over 33 million Octopus cards are in circulation as of 2018, with the card being used by 99 per cent of Hong Kong residents. Notable businesses that started accepting Octopus cards at an early stage included PARKnSHOP, Wellcome, Watsons, 7-Eleven, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Circle K. Between June 2003 and November 2004, the Hong Kong Government replaced its 17,000 parking meters with an Octopus card–operated system. Octopus card was then the only accepted form of payment until 2021 when new meters were introduced that accepted contactless payment, Faster Payment System and QR code payment. Octopus cards also double as access control cards in buildings and for school administrative functions. At certain office buildings, residential buildings, and schools, use of an Octopus card is required for entry.

## Payments

Payments are made by holding the card against or within a few centimetres of an Octopus card reader. The reader acknowledges payment by emitting a beep, and displaying the amount deducted and the remaining balance of the card. The standard transaction time for readers used for public transport is 0.3 seconds, and for retailers' card readers is 1 second.

## Public transport

When using the MTR heavy rail system, each passenger's entry point is recorded and the appropriate fare based on distance travelled is deducted when they validate their cards again at the exit point. The MTR usually charges less for journeys made using an Octopus card instead of conventional single-journey tickets. For example, the adult fare of a single journey from Chai Wan to Tung Chung is HK$25.7 with an Octopus card, and HK$28.5 with a single journey ticket. Other public transport operators also offer intermittent discounts for using Octopus cards on higher fares and round-trip transits on select routes.

## Taxis

The first trial of using Octopus card readers in Hong Kong taxis started in June 2006 with the Yellow Taxi Group in the New Territories. It was reported on 30 October that eight of the twenty taxis participating in the trial had dropped out. Part of the reason was technical – drivers needed to return to the office every day for accounting. Most taxi drivers in Hong Kong are self-employed and prefer to account their profit and rent on a daily basis, while Octopus transferred money through a bank after one working day, so drivers could be left over a weekend or longer waiting for their account to be reconciled. Installation and service fees are also a concern. Wong Yu-ting, the managing director of the Yellow Taxi Group, wanted retailers to offer discounts to Octopus taxi passengers, but the Transport Department objected as taxi fare discount is illegal in Hong Kong. In March 2018, Octopus Cards Limited announced plans to re-enter the taxi payment market with a new mobile app for taxi drivers. The mobile app is able to receive funds by tapping the passenger's Octopus card to the device's Near-field communication (NFC) reader, or by allowing passengers to scan a QR code. In October 2020, Octopus Cards Limited launched Octopus Mobile POS, a more compact version of the Octopus reader to help taxi drivers and small- and medium-sized retailers accept cashless payments. The new Octopus Mobile POS, that works with the mobile app, was opportune during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it helped provide merchants customers with peace of mind regarding potential virus transmission. By July 2021, over 15,000 taxi drivers had installed Octopus Mobile POS. On April 1, 2026, the Hong Kong Government mandated that all licensed taxis must accept at least two forms of electronic payment options:  one QR code-based method (such as WeChat Pay HK or AlipayHK) and one non-QR code method (such as an Octopus card or a credit card). In anticipation of the regulation, the number of taxi drivers registered to accept commercial Octopus payments exceeded 40,000 by the start of the mandate.

## Outside Hong Kong

In collaboration with China UnionPay, Octopus Cards Limited introduced Octopus card usage to two Fairwood restaurants in Shenzhen in August 2006. In 2008, five Café de Coral locations in Shenzhen also started accepting Octopus. Value cannot be reloaded to Octopus cards in Shenzhen, but the Automatic Add Value Service is available to automatically deduct money value from a customer's credit card to reload an Octopus card. The two Fairwood restaurants in Shenzhen that were enabled for Octopus card payments are located at Luohu Commercial City and Shenzhen railway station. Shenzhen became the first city outside Hong Kong in which Octopus cards may be accepted as payment. In Macau, the Octopus card was introduced in December 2006 when two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in the territory adopted its usage as payment. Similar to its usage in Shenzhen, an Octopus card may not be reloaded in Macau, and the currency exchange rate between the Macanese pataca and the Hong Kong dollar when using an Octopus card is MOP1:HKD1. The two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Macau that adopted the Octopus card for payment are located at the Rua do Campo and the Sands Casino. Shenzhen Tong cards are now widely used in Shenzhen instead, and a combined Shenzhen Tong – Hong Kong Octopus card is available, called the Hu Tong Xing, with RMB & HKD in different purses. The Macau Pass is now widely used in Macau. Starting from 26 March 2024, Octopus card launched a new version, which can be used in mainland China and Macau through China T-Union.

## Balance enquiries, reloading and refunds

Spare coins can also be added on to Octopus cards at "Coin Carts", a vehicle operated by Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

## Types of cards

There are two main types of Octopus card (On-Loan and Sold), and two less common types (Airport Express Tourist and MTR Airport Staff).

## On-Loan cards

On-Loan cards are issued for use in day-to-day functions, primarily for fare payment in transport systems. They are further classified into Child, Adult, Elder, and Personalised categories, with the first three based on age and different amounts of fare concession. With the exception of the Personalised cards, On-Loan cards are anonymous; no personal information, bank account, or credit card details are stored on the card, and no identification is required for the purchase of these cards. If an owner loses a card, only the stored value and the deposit of the card are lost. On-Loan Octopus cards may be purchased at all MTR stations, the KMB Customer Service Centre, New World First Ferry (NWFF) Octopus Service Centres, and the New World First Bus (NWFB) Customer Service Centre. A student on-loan Octopus Card was initially issued, but was discontinued in 2005.

## Samsung Pay

Since 14 December 2017, the cardless Octopus, named "Smart Octopus", is available with Samsung Pay, a mobile payment platform provided by Samsung. By using the phone's NFC function and magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology, users can tap their selected Samsung devices on Octopus readers, paying in a similar way as a normal physical Octopus cards. Users can choose to transfer their card data from an existing anonymous On-Loan Adult or Elder Octopus to the Smart Octopus. All card value and reward points are transferred and held in the Samsung Pay app. The physical card is then deactivated and can no longer be used. Users can also choose to purchase a new Adult or Elder Smart Octopus in the app. Smart Octopus provides features like instant transaction notification and in-app top-up function. In-app top-ups initially incurred a 2.5% handling fee but this fee was removed in June 2020 when support for Apple Pay was launched.

## Sources

- Octopus card · Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=267624

Source: Wikipedia contributors — https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=267624&oldid=1378876517

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Adaptation notice: Reformatted for XPay; the source may be abridged, restructured or translated. Consult the cited revision for the original.