PayMe (officially known as PayMe from HSBC) is a
mobile payment service from
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...
, currently available only for
Hong Kong users with local phone numbers and
banks. Users can pay businesses, transfer money to one another using a
mobile app, linked to their credit card or (any local) bank account.
As of Nov 2022, the service had around 2.9 million active users, out of a
Hong Kong population of 7.3 million, with a market share of 50%.
History
On its launch on 8 February 2017, heavy traffic meant that some users were unable to register, leading to media dubbing the service "Play Me".
Topping up was only possible from a
Visa or
Mastercard credit card, with a limit of HK$10,000 per month.
In April 2018, the app won the
FinTech Grand Award in the
official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
Hong Kong ICT Awards.
From June 2018, users were able to link to a local bank account,
with monthly top-up limits raised to HK$30,000, or HK$50,000 with a verified residential address. At the same time, PayMe launched an online shopping payment service, in collaboration with
HKTVmall
HKTVmall is a wholly owned subsidiary of HKTV founded in 2015 as a over-the-top
An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platfor ...
.
In July 2019, PayMe introduced the support of
FPS
FPS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* "F.P.S." (''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), an episode of the TV show ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''
* '' fps magazine'', a defunct magazine about animation
* ''The Fabulous Picture Show'', a televi ...
(Faster Payment System) for transfer and top-up, along with a complete redesign of the app. At the same time, PayMe lowered the top-up limit for credit cards to HK$2,000 per month.
In May 2022, PayMe was selected to be one of the eligible electronic platforms for the consumption voucher scheme.
Features
PayMe was introduced as a standalone mobile app, offering P2P social payment. Users register via a
Facebook account or Hong Kong mobile phone number and authorise access to a credit card or local bank account (not necessarily an HSBC account), from which the balance can be topped up, and a bank account to receive money.
There are no transaction fees.
When the PayMe account balance is too low to make a given transaction, the app automatically withdraws the necessary funds from the registered bank account or card.
The
social networking interaction component allows users to send and request money and split bills with others, similarly to
Venmo in the United States. When the user makes a transaction, the details are posted on the social timeline, and available for other users to see, subject to privacy settings.
The app encourages users to add friends, by searching for available contacts in the app. If a user makes a transaction to a non-PayMe user, a sharable payment link is created that can be distributed through social media such as
WhatsApp.
When the user opens the link, they can choose to collect the money by inputting their bank account, or receive it by creating a new PayMe account.
In popular culture
PayMe is referenced in the 2021 movie "
All U need is love
''All U Need Is Love'' (Chinese: 總是有愛在隔離) is a 2021 Hong Kong comedy-drama film directed by Vincent Kok and starring an all-star ensemble cast. The film is a benefit effort for Hong Kong film industry workers affected by the COV ...
" (總是有愛在隔離), where - at around the 30 minutes mark - the character played by
Julian Cheung asks another hotel guest to pay him "Lai See" (red packet money) to join the triad, only to be asked in return if he takes PayMe instead.
See also
*
Paym
Paym ( ) is a mobile payment system provided by banks and building societies in the United Kingdom. Recipients are identified by their mobile phone number instead of bank details such as sort code and account number.
The service was developed b ...
*
AlipayHK
*
WeChat Pay
*
Octopus card
*
*
References
External links
*
{{HSBC Group
HSBC
Financial services companies established in 2017
Mobile payments
Payment service providers
Online payments