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Oct. 19 (NBD) -- AlipayHK, a joint venture between Ant Financial and Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, Thursday launched a payment technology called EasyGo for public transportation, and entered into cooperation contracts with Hong Kong (HK)'s top two biggest minibus operators AMS Public Transport and Koon Wing Motors Limited, a step extending its payment services further into HK's public transportation system.

The move is in line with HK's five-year plan that was made at the end of last year in a bid to build itself into a leading smart city around the globe. 

EasyGo offers a wide range of innovative functions including dual offline solution, which makes payment possible even when the network is weak or unavailable.

Currently, AlipayHK is discussing with the two minibus operators on how to apply the technology in stages, and the company plans to extend the payment service to more public transit means, reported news outlet the 21st Century Business Herald citing AlipayHK CEO Jennifer Chen. But she refused to give details on that. 

AlipayHK's director of product development noted that over 12 million people in HK use public transportation everyday, offering great application scenarios for micropayments. In addition, public transportation data would be of huge significance in the era of Internet of Things and big data, added the person.

Research firm Analysys also noted that previously, people used cash and rechargeable cards to pay for metro and other public transportation rides, thus there was no way to collect data to build customer profile. That's where mobile payment came in. With public transportation data in hand, payment firms could offer better operations and targeted marketing. 

This makes mobile payment on buses an emerging battlefield among mobile payment service providers, said industry insiders. 

As early as late last year, both Alipay and WeChat struck partnerships with HK Metro. Besides, they have made their payment services available to taxies in the region. 

Currently, there are around 20,000 taxi-hailing orders on average in HK each day, and roughly 10 percent of HK taxies can take payments through Alipay. 

In addition to connecting to taxies, metro systems and shopping malls, AlipayHK is negotiating with authorities of multiple countries and regions on cross-border payment. That is to say its users would be able to use HKD-denominated e-wallets in popular scenic spots in those areas in the future. 

Its rival WeChat Pay HK compete in a new way by offering cross-border payment services to HK residents that allow them to use the HK version of WeChat Pay in mainland China starting from October this year. 

The first batch of mainland businesses that incorporated WeChat's new services include ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, photo-editing app Meitu, restaurant-review and group-buying platform Meituan-Dianping, and train ticketing platform 12306. 

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn