JETCO launches app to ease small money transfers

Joint Electronic Teller Services (JETCO) launched a peer-to-peer inter-bank platform in Hong Kong on Tuesday, a mobile application that enables cardholders of three banks to transfer money to other individuals through their smartphones.
China CITIC Bank International and Shanghai Commercial Bank are already offering the service while Wing Lung Bank will launch the service in May. According to JETCO chief executive officer Angus Choi, a total of 14 banks are expected to join the platform by the end of the first half of 2017.
Meanwhile, Choi revealed that JETCO is in discussions with Macau regulators to expand the service to the region. However, he added that there are no plans to offer the Macau service in Yuan or US dollars.
Any individual with a Hong Kong bank account can receive funds, provided that they have the JETCO Pay P2P Collect app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has set the maximum amount for the app at HKD3,000 every two days.
Choi said the firm wants to develop Hong Kong’s mobile payment market and is seeking opportunities to cooperate, revealing that the company’s next step is to add the peer-to-merchant service to the peer-to-peer platform to enable clients to pay for online shopping,
Meanwhile, according to a South China Morning Post report, Hong Kong has been conservative in financial technology despite the expansion of the financial technology industry (‘fintech’) in the mainland and elsewhere.
Chief executive at Partners Capital International Ronald Wan emphasized that there are numerous rules and regulations in Hong Kong.
“It’s a problem left over from history. Investors, regulators, and companies can hardly walk even an inch in the fintech industry,” he said.  “If you don’t relax the rules, local firms are hardly able to compete with mainland peers such as Alibaba or Tencent.”

macau pass with new payment platform

Macau Pass has launched “M + Pay”, a third-party online payment platform. According to a report by Macao Daily News, from now on Macau Pass users can charge their cards directly through their personal accounts or through a bank account that is connected to “M + Pay.” Each user account is limited to a balance of MOP5,000. The report also advised that the platform can be used to pay for online purchases and bill payments. “M + Pay” is supported by a webpage and an Android and iOS based application, which will all be available by the end of May. Users who intend to use this service can sign up for an account using their current phone number. Lao Kin Keong, deputy general manager of Macau Pass, revealed that cooperation with mainland online shopping companies, including Taobao, is currently under negotiation. He expects to reach an agreement later this year.