Provider & methodCards, WalletListed Mar 2026octopus.com.hkWebsite
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Octopus

Octopus is a Hong Kong-based smart card and mobile payment solution that allows users to make quick, secure payments for public transport, retail purchases, and more.

Octopus is a Hong Kong-based smart card and mobile payment solution that allows users to make quick, secure payments for public transport, retail purchases, and more. As a PSP, Octopus enables seamless, contactless payments for both consumers and businesses. Its platform integrates with various merchants across Hong Kong, offering a convenient payment method for daily transactions. Octopus is widely accepted for small-value payments and is especially popular for transport services, parking, and convenience store purchases, improving customer experience and transaction speed.

1

payment methods

Octopus
4

markets

ChinaCNHong KongHKMacaoMOThailandTH
1

currencies

HKD
5

sectors served

CosmeticseCommerceFood & DrinkHealthcareSaaS
1

built on

APAPI
5

providers who accept it

AirwallexAntomCheckout.comNuveiOrca

What Octopus costs

Octopus quotes per merchant. What you are offered depends on your volume, your industry, the countries you sell in, your card mix and your risk profile — so a published headline rate would not be your rate. Ask them for a quote against your own numbers.

Licences and regulation

Authorisations Octopus holds, as published by the provider or regulator. Check the register entry before relying on it.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)
Stored Value Facility (SVF) licence under the Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 584), held by Octopus Cards Limited (trading as Octopus) as a non-bank licensee (Section A of the register); effective date 13 November 2016 · Hong Kong SAR China · HK · SVF0001
Register

What you need to onboard

N/A

What the last check found

Octopus is the brand of Octopus Cards Limited (OCL), the HKMA's first and lowest-numbered stored value facility licensee: SVF0001.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's register of stored value facility licensees lists SVF0001 against Octopus Cards Limited in Section A, the non-bank licensees, and the HKMA's own open-data API returns name "Octopus Cards Limited", licence_no "SVF0001" and effective_date "2016-11-13". Section B is where licensed banks are deemed licensed under the Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 584) by reference to the Banking Ordinance, and those carry SVFB-prefixed numbers. So cardholder and merchant float sits with a non-bank payment licensee, safeguarded under the SVF regime rather than held as bank deposits.

That distinction matters because Octopus's own history page states that OCL was "authorised as a deposit-taking company by the HKMA in April 2000". That is historical only. "Octopus" returns zero matches in the HKMA register of authorized institutions and zero in the HKMA's downloadable full AI/LRO workbook, a file whose deposit-taking-company section reads cleanly, so the negative is real. The banking authorisation was superseded by SVF0001.

Chain of ownership: OCL is the main subsidiary of Octopus Holdings Limited (incorporated October 2005), owned by MTR Corporation Limited at 64.02%, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation at 22.10%, Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) at 13.83% and Sun Ferry at 0.05%. OCL began as Creative Star Limited, a 1994 joint venture of transport operators, and the system launched in September 1997.

Registered address per the register: 46/F Manhattan Place, 23 Wang Tai Road, Kowloon Bay. The licence covers Hong Kong only, so additional countries on this listing reflect partner acceptance rails rather than licensed presence. OCL is not in the HKMA stablecoin issuer register. The Insurance Authority intermediary register was not checked: it renders only in JavaScript and cannot be searched by URL.

Checked against Octopus’s own documentation on 21 October 2026. Coverage changes; confirm anything you are about to build on.

Is Octopus regulated?

Octopus holds authorisations from Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Always check the regulator’s public register before relying on it.

People at Octopus

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Sources · 29

  1. Antom Docs — payment methods · docs.antom.comcountriescurrenciesthe companyUsed for buyer countries, merchant entity locations and processing currencies for Octopus, as Antom documents itChecked 20 October 2026
  2. Nuvei — APMs per currency and country (January 2026) · docs.nuvei.comcountriescurrenciesmethodscapabilitiesUsed for countries, currencies and whether the method supports deposits, refunds and withdrawals for Octopus, as Nuvei documents itChecked 20 October 2026
  3. Airwallex Docs — payment methods · airwallex.comcurrenciesUsed for shopper locations and presentment currencies for Octopus, as Airwallex documents itChecked 20 October 2026
  4. Octopus Hong Kong - Business · octopus.com.hkpricingintegrationsvolumesUsed for First-party merchant products (Octopus Reader 3.0, POP 2.0, Octopus App for Business, POS integration); published handling fees 1.5% standard / 1.3% for accounts opened by 31 Dec 2026; statistics quoted verbatim (over 36 million cards and products, over 210,000 acceptance points, 15 million transactions a day, HK$300 million daily value, 98% penetration among ages 15-64); 'generate payment QR codes and links ... perfect for online stores too'; absence of any API mention.Checked 20 October 2026
  5. Become an Octopus Merchant · octopus.com.hkmethodsvolumesUsed for Direct merchant onboarding routes (Merchant Portal, hotline, acquiring partners); 'Octopus makes payment acceptance simple ... whether for offline retail or online web or in-app transactions'; the Macau evidence: 'Merchants in Macau who want to offer the convenience of Octopus payment service may contact us or our local acquirers' plus the 'Octopus payment service in Macau' section naming Macau Pass S.A.; acquirer eligibility criteria.Checked 20 October 2026
  6. Usage Outside Hong Kong - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkcountriespricingvolumesUsed for The only published non-Hong-Kong coverage page. Verbatim: 'Octopus payment is already available at Galaxy Macau, Broadway Macau'; 'The exchange rate for Pataca transactions in Macau is 1 MOP to HK$1'; 'Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) will be deducted'. Basis for adding MO and MOP and for the statement that the Macau footprint is two named venues.Checked 20 October 2026
  7. Corporate Structure - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkthe companyUsed for Ownership: Octopus Holdings Limited shareholders MTR Corporation 64.02%, Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation 22.10%, The Kowloon Motor Bus Co.(1933) Ltd. 13.83%, Sun Ferry Services Company Limited 0.05%, with Octopus Cards Limited as the main subsidiary.Checked 20 October 2026
  8. Our Services - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hklimits & timingUsed for The Macau Pass partnership for Octopus payments in Macau; the Octopus-Lingnan Pass cross-border card with separate HKD and RMB purses (basis for rejecting CN/CNY as Octopus coverage); the international technology business (Netherlands clearing house, Dubai RTA back office).Checked 20 October 2026
  9. Octopus App for Business · octopus.com.hkmethodspricingintegrationsthe companyUsed for Methods acquired through the app (Octopus card and Wallet by NFC, customer-scanned QR, overseas wallets via Visa Pay: LINE Pay, Hyundai Card, Woori Card, Samsung Card, VNPT Money); in-app application; six-month handling-fee waiver then 1.3%; instant FPS settlement to a Business Account; 'Online merchants can easily generate the QR code, export e-Tent Card or Payment Link'; no API mentioned.Checked 20 October 2026
  10. Octopus for Payment Setup API - Checkout.com docs · checkout.comcurrenciesmethodscapabilitiesUsed for The only public technical spec found. 'Supported value: HKD' for the currency field (basis for the HKD-only online rail); the three-step create/confirm/redirect flow; 'For Octopus, payment and refund amounts must end in a 0'; requirement that the Octopus App be installed on the customer's phone.Checked 20 October 2026
  11. Octopus - Checkout.com docs · checkout.commethodsUsed for Octopus classified as a digital wallet with a redirect flow, available for Flow, and requiring enablement by a Checkout.com account manager — i.e. the PSP route is gated, not self-serve.Checked 20 October 2026
  12. Merchant Tips - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkintegrationsUsed for Evidence that Octopus's merchant-support publishing covers reader firmware, transaction upload, settlement verification and the OSDX data channel, and contains no API specification, SDK or developer documentation.Checked 20 October 2026
  13. octopus.com.hk robots.txt · octopus.com.hkUsed for Fetched directly: contains no Sitemap directive, supporting the finding that the site publishes no sitemap (and /sitemap.xml, /sitemap_index.xml, /en/sitemap.xml, /sitemap.txt and /llms.txt all returned 404).Checked 20 October 2026
  14. Octopus Hong Kong - Consumer · octopus.com.hkmethodsUsed for Consumer-side products that make up the method list: Octopus cards, Octopus on mobile, Octopus Wallet, Octopus Mastercard for online shopping, Octopus UnionPay Card for QR payments, Automatic Add Value Service, FPS top-up; and the 'Join as an Octopus Retail/Online Merchant' link.Checked 20 October 2026
  15. International Business - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkcountriescurrenciesUsed for Confirms the international arm sells automatic fare collection technology and names no countries or currencies — so it is not a basis for any added coverage.Checked 20 October 2026
  16. Granting of stored value facilities licences - HKMA · hkma.gov.hklicensingUsed for Octopus Cards Limited's stored-value facility licence SVF0001, effective 13 November 2016. Appeared in search results rather than fetched directly.Checked 20 October 2026
  17. Checkout.com becomes first global PSP to launch Octopus for online payments · checkout.commethodsintegrationsUsed for Dates the arrival of Octopus as a PSP-distributed online method (October 2024) and supports the point that online Octopus acceptance reached merchants through PSPs rather than an Octopus public API. Appeared in search results.Checked 20 October 2026
  18. Octopus - Corporate section index · octopus.com.hkUsed for Locating the real corporate navigation paths (press release, corporate profile, sustainability) after a guessed /en/corporate/press-release/ path returned 404 - used to avoid concluding from a guessed URL that no press releases are published.Checked 20 October 2026
  19. Octopus - Press Releases · octopus.com.hkthe companyUsed for Checking for any 2025/2026 acquisition, merger, rebrand, change of ownership or closure announcement. The listing is JavaScript-driven and rendered no entries, so this is a 'could not read it' result, not a 'they publish nothing' result - no corporate change was found by any route.Checked 20 October 2026
  20. Octopus - llms.txt (404 Not Found) · octopus.com.hkmethodsUsed for Confirming the site publishes no llms.txt machine-readable index; combined with robots.txt having no Sitemap: line, this establishes that the operator publishes no site-wide machine index, so page-by-page fetching was the correct method here.Checked 20 October 2026
  21. Octopus UnionPay Card - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkcountriescurrenciesmethodspricingUsed for Previously unexamined first-party country claims: 'Octopus UnionPay Card now supports Weixin Pay in the Mainland!' and 'Octopus UnionPay Card also supports ZeroPay merchants in South Korea!', plus 'Payments made by Octopus UnionPay Card will be deducted from your Octopus Wallet directly.' Basis for the documented decision NOT to add CN or KR: these are outbound consumer spend over UnionPay/Weixin/ZeroPay acceptance rails with the Octopus Wallet as funding source only, not Octopus merchant acceptance. Names no currencies and discloses no FX fee.Checked 20 October 2026
  22. Octopus Mastercard - Octopus Hong Kong · octopus.com.hkcountriescurrenciesmethodspricingUsed for Basis for rejecting any global footprint: 'allowing you to pay easily at worldwide merchants that accept Mastercard, whether it's in-store or online' and 'Easily pay in-store and online across the world!'. States no card currency, no countries and no conversion fees - companion-card reach over Mastercard acceptance, which is not Octopus coverage.Checked 20 October 2026
  23. octopus.com.hk/sitemap.xml - HTTP 404 · octopus.com.hkUsed for Fetched directly and independently of the researcher: HTTP 404. With /llms.txt also 404 and robots.txt carrying no Sitemap directive, this establishes that Octopus publishes no structured coverage index - distinguishing 'they do not publish it' from 'I could not find it', so no coverage page was missed.Checked 20 October 2026
  24. HKMA — Register of SVF Licensees · hkma.gov.hklicensingUsed for Primary source: Octopus Cards Limited, licence SVF0001, effective 13/11/2016, listed under Section A non-bank SVF licensees; registered address 46/F Manhattan Place, Kowloon Bay. Also establishes the SVF vs SVFB (bank) distinction.
  25. HKMA open API — register of SVF licensees (machine-readable) · api.hkma.gov.hklicensingUsed for Independent confirmation of the licence number and effective date from the same regulator in structured form: name 'Octopus Cards Limited', licence_no 'SVF0001', effective_date '2016-11-13'.
  26. Octopus — Corporate profile: Overview / history · octopus.com.hklicensingthe companyUsed for Entity history: Creative Star Limited joint venture 1994, renamed Octopus Cards Limited 2002, system launched September 1997, Octopus Holdings Limited incorporated October 2005; statement that OCL was authorised as a deposit-taking company by the HKMA in April 2000; names Octopus Rewards Limited and Octopus International Projects Limited as non-payment subsidiaries.
  27. HKMA — Register of Authorized Institutions and Local Representative Offices · hkma.gov.hkwho they onboardlicensingthe companyUsed for Negative check: no Octopus entity is a licensed bank, restricted licence bank or deposit-taking company, confirming the April 2000 DTC authorisation no longer stands.
  28. HKMA — full list of authorized institutions and LROs (workbook) · hkma.gov.hklicensingUsed for Second negative check on banking authorisation: zero occurrences of 'Octopus' in the complete AI list, including the 'LIST OF DEPOSIT-TAKING COMPANIES IN HONG KONG' section.
  29. HKMA — Register of Licensed Stablecoin Issuers · hkma.gov.hkthe companyUsed for Negative check: only Anchorpoint Financial Limited (FRS01) and HSBC (FRS02); no Octopus entity.

29 sources · last checked 21 October 2026 — each one says which claim it supports.

Compiled from public sources — verify with Octopus before you sign anything. How we compile this · Suggest a correction ·