Off the Shelf: The Retail & CPG Blog

I have recently moved to HongKong and being new did not have a credit card and was experiencing the inconvenience of carrying a lot of cash with me - until I found the magic of the Octopus card. The octopus card was initially designed for collecting fares in the mass transit system but now evolved into a universal smart card which can be used almost anywhere in HongKong - for paying at departmental stores, super markets, restaurants, parking meters and even can be used as access cards to apartment complex, gym and other facilities.

The Octopus card is a contactless stored valued card. One can load cash into the Octopus card or can link it to one's bank account or credit card account. The card has a RFID chip, which when held near to a card reader communicates and makes a transaction. So any place which has the Octopus card reader becomes a transaction point. The beauty is it need not be used only for monetary transactions; the card can be programmed for being the access entry for office buildings, apartment complex, libraries etc. And there is more. There are wrist watches or cell phone covers where the RFID chip can be installed, effectively transforming one's watch or cell phone into smart card.

I have not seen anything even close to this in the two countries I have primarily lived in, namely, USA and India.

This technology has immense potential in a country like India where majority of people do not have access to credit cards or debit cards. Since Octopus card is accessible to everybody, these millions of people can do away with carrying cash in crowded mass transit systems and use this card as an alternative. The tens of thousands of mom and pop stores who can't afford accepting credit card payments can install the relatively cheap card reader as an alternative.

In USA, this smart card by no means can be an alternative to credit cards. However, it has a huge potential for making life more convenient for people. I have lived in a big city like San Francisco and I had to keep a BART (suburban train) ticket, a library card, a card to access my local gym and a card for entering my apartment and office building, in addition to keeping scores of coins for parking meters and bus tickets. Imagine getting rid of my fat wallet by a single card or even by a wrist watch which would serve all the above functions and in addition, if I am lazy to get the cash or credit card out of my wallet, buy a piece of Candy from a convenience store by just using my wrist watch.

For retailers, in any part of the world, this is a gateway for real communication with consumers who transact with cash. There is a huge potential for collating data for analytics and targeted campaigning for this consumer segment that otherwise constitute a major portion of the retailer's customer base but retailers have hardly any information about them.

The Slogan of Octopus card Limited is 'Making everyday life easier' - If HongKong can do it, surely other places in the world can.