Macau’s mobile payment monopoly – Macau Pass – is eying a share of cross-currency payment demand between the Hong Kong dollar and the Macanese pataca via the launch of a new electronic wallet.

Instead of having to convert their Macanese pataca for Hong Kong dollars before spending, Macau Pass’ e-wallet, «Mpay», will enable payments directly without having to exchange currencies.

According to Macau Pass director Joe Liu, Hong Kong is «the favorite destination for tourists and businessmen from Macau» and the e-wallet can support payments for goods and services. Likewise, Hong Kong residents in Macau – the second-largest group of visitors – can also make pataca-denominated payments without converting their currency.

Macau Pass is targeting for MPay’s launch to take place in the second quarter of 2021 in Hong Kong, furthering ongoing efforts to create seamless payments across the Greater Bay Area, an 11-city southern China cluster with a population of over 70 million.

Greater China Seamlessness

According to Macau Pass deputy general manager Wong Kam Man, limited access for Octopus – Macau’s counterpart payment provider in Hong Kong – prompted it to tap into the market of Hong Kongers making pataca-denominated payments.

In 2015, it extended its reach into mainland China, partnering with the likes of Ant Group’s Ali Pay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay to serve Chinese visitors to Macau, making it the first firm to provide payment services in all three jurisdictions.

Macau Pass

Macau Pass is a ubiquitous card-based payment solution which has covers a wide range of payments across public transport, parking, public sector services, dining and retail shopping throughout Macau.

The Macau Pass card was first launched by Liu’s family business and bus operator, Transmac, as a contactless payment solution. Since rolling out in 1999, as many as 3 million cards have been sold. Macau’s sole mobile payment provider followed up with the launch of MPay in the renowned casino city, which boasts 440,000 Macanese users – 64 percent of the total population of 685,000.

Last year, transactions handled by Macau Pass across all channels totaled 10 billion Macau patacas ($1.25 billion). Similar to the U.S. dollar, Hong Kong and Macau also have a peg with an equal rate of 1-to-1.