HONG KONG - The mainland credit card organization China UnionPay Friday launched a cross-border service enabling Hong Kong card holders to pay for utilities and telecom service bills in Shenzhen. It's the first time the cross-border bill paying service has been available.
The service targets Hong Kong residents who own properties in Shenzhen, enabling them to pay water, electricity, gas, telephone, cellphone bills and for cable TV services. It's estimated more than 40,000 Hong Kong families live in Shenzhen, not including those who have bought flats for investment purpose.
Automatic payment instructions can be set up with credit card banks. Similar service will be introduced to UnionPay debit cards late this year or early next year.
"This is certainly great news," said Kitty Chow, a real estate agent who has invested in flats in Shenzhen and Panyu.
"Since I don't want to travel back and forth to pay the utility bills, I had to keep a large deposit in my mainland bank account to ensure there's enough to cover the monthly bills," she said.
She had missed the payment for some electricity bills, which caused the power company to cut the supply and it took her a week to settle the matter.
"I just wish this service was offered earlier and was available in other cities," Chow said.
At the launch ceremony in Shenzhen, Norman Chan, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said that while the development of transport infrastructure has helped form "the Hong Kong and Shenzhen living circle", better integration of financial services is also needed.
He said the Monetary Authority is studying the cross-border use of electronic currency, such as the use of Octopus card in both Shenzhen and Hong Kong. He hopes card readers for cross-border Octopus cards can be introduced within a year.
Vice-Governor of the People's Bank of China Liu Shiyu hailed the new utility bill payment system as a concrete step in implementing the Closer Economic Partnership Agreements.
He urged UnionPay to introduce more services to promote cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen's financial services.
UnionPay was founded in March 2002 as an association for China's banking card industry, with the endorsement of the People's Bank of China. Despite initial difficulties in gaining acceptance outside China, UnionPay cards have grown rapidly and now function in some 90 countries and regions.
In Hong Kong, more than 600 UnionPay cards have been issued by banks including Bank of China, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia.
According to Xu Luode, president of UnionPay, UnionPay cards can be used for transactions on all ATMs and at more than 90 percent of Hong Kong merchants.
