Hong Kong, China

The number of personal charge cards in circulation continued to decline in 2019, due to the increasing competition from other payment methods as well as the unclear benefits they can offer versus traditional credit cards. Furthermore, charge cards ...

2019 marked the year where the first virtual banking licences were granted in Hong Kong. In March 2019, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted the first three virtual banking licences to Livi VB Limited, SC Digital Solutions Limited and ZhongAn ...

In 2019, pre-paid cards continued to grow both in terms of number of cards in circulation and transaction volume and value. Open loop pre-paid cards were the main drivers of growth. The Octopus card continues to be omnipresent in Hong Kong, allowing ...

Store cards were not present in Hong Kong in 2019....

Credit cards remained one of the most popular forms of payments in Hong Kong in 2019. Both number of transactions and total value of transactions experienced strong growth in 2019. According to industry experts, credit cards remain a popular payment ...

Mobile wallets saw a major push in 2019, with a flurry of new players entering the market as well as incumbents continuing to heavily promote their products. In July 2019, AliPayHK was granted a licence to expand throughout mainland China, which ...

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) hiked interest rates on four consecutive occasions throughout 2018, taking the base lending rate from 1.75% to 2.75%. Indeed, because of the peg between the HK dollar and the US dollar, the HKMA is forced to ...

According to industry experts, the Hong Kong population is generally considered as risk-averse when it comes to finance, with people avoiding consumer credit if they can. However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has been actively rolling out ...

Given the increasingly busy lifestyles of Hong Kongers, convenience and ease of usage are important factors when choosing consumer products. Therefore, packaging designed to improve ease of use and promote greater convenience appeals to domestic ...

Driven by China and India, Asia’s developing economies saw healthy rates of growth in 2018. Japan’s economic prospects are less favourable however. Too many of Asia’s economies are excessively dependent on exports and large inflows of foreign ...

The report examines how the Shifting Market Frontiers megatrend has evolved over the last 12 months. It provides analysis on how shifting economic power, technology, and population changes are impacting core Shifting Market Frontier megatrends, and ...

Hong Kong’s public transport system is highly developed and sophisticated. Smart electronic money payment, the so-called Octopus card, has made the payment process quick and efficient since its introduction in 1997. The payment system is available ...

Despite growing concerns over the effects of a full-on trade war and a gloomy global economic outlook, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported strong global growth in passenger revenue in 2019. Asia Pacific continued to ...

The Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), both of which opened in the second half of 2018, have increased the number of visitors to Hong Kong from mainland China. While there has been an ...

Traditional offline agencies continued to decline in 2019 in terms of their share of total travel agent sales. At the same time, the large OTA players such as Ctrip and Expedia posted strong growth, accentuating the concentration in the industry. ...

In 2019, Hong Kong continued to showcase itself as a hotspot for tourism in Asia. With growing infrastructure, the city continues to position itself as an attractive destination for both leisure and business travellers. The recent completion of the ...

Mainland Chinese tourists continued to constitute the backbone of Hong Kong inbound tourism in 2019. With the completion of both the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge (HMZB) and the High Speed Rail line connecting Hong Kong with Guangzhou and Shenzhen, ...

Metal beverage cans registered huge growth in 2018 and this was almost entirely due to significant increases in unit volumes in beer and, to a lesser degree, cider/perry. Smaller can sizes such as 330ml and 355ml were the biggest winners during the ...

Light-touch regulations that promote an open economy have secured favourable rankings for the business environment. However, corruption has negatively impacted the political landscape and China is making further inroads into the rule of law that ...

Consumers in Hong Kong are increasingly using their smartphones as navigational tools, due to the greater accuracy of their GPS capabilities, replacing the need for specific in-car navigation devices such as Garmin and TomTom. Car chargers and ...