HK merchants’ refusal to accept local credit cards ‘not illegal’: AMCM

The refusal by some merchants in the neighboring region of Hong Kong to accept payments using Macau credit cards is not illegal, the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) told the Times in a response to an inquiry.

In the response, the AMCM explained, “Some overseas online merchants may, subject to their commercial decisions, only accept payments through designated payment channels.”

On the line were several reports of local buyers who saw their local credit cards (from different banks and using different networks) being refused by merchants in Hong Kong.

According to AMCM, no issue justifies this refusal besides the merchant policies or commercial decisions that are not linked to the banking system.

Reports received by the Times over a relatively long period noted that some merchants in Hong Kong, namely from the sector of home appliances and electronics as well as some clothing, would not accept local credit cards as payment methods, although they would accept the Hong Kong ones. In some cases, involving online purchases to be shipped to Macau, some of the retailers requested Macau customers send bank cheques by post or to perform interbank money transfers.

Most of the reports that the Times heard were related to online shopping but there were also a few cases of people reporting refusal of local credit cards in physical stores.

Although AMCM noted that the decision to refuse some credit cards by stores is not illegal, the authority could not find any justification for such a commercial decision based on any implications for the merchants.

exclusion from PayPal a decision by the company

In the same response, the AMCM also noted that the exclusion of Macau from the payment and money transfer platform PayPal is unilateral and related also to a commercial decision of the American multinational financial technology company.

On the topic, the AMCM said, “To facilitate online shopping by Macau residents, the AMCM has liaised with PayPal several times, persuading it to accept Macau-issued credit cards.  However, whether PayPal finally accepts Macau-issued credit cards depends on its commercial decision.”

PayPal is available in over 200 countries and regions, and it accepts 25 currencies.

Among the countries and regions that cannot enjoy this service are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Paraguay, Saint Lucia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macau, Monaco, Moldova, Montenegro, Myanmar, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe.

PayPal service is currently available in China, as well as in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In HK only residents over 18 years of age can have a PayPal account, while in the mainland users are required to use their full names in Chinese characters (just like in their IDs) to open an account. No pinyin is allowed.
For those non-Chinese nationals residing in China, they must use the name from their passport. Mainland credit as well as debit cards can be added to PayPal accounts.