Macau Pass to waive charges on retailers for two years

Contactless smartcard provider Macau Pass will waive annual fees, deposits and payment terminal rental fees for all retailers using its services in 2020 and 2021, the company announced yesterday.

The announcement was made at the government press conference held to explain details and arrangements for the upcoming e-voucher program, which is an economic relief measure enacted by the government.

“We don’t have the intention to charge retailers,” Man Wong, Deputy General Manager of the e-payment company said, when asked to clarify whether the company will charge retailers any money. “[But] a handling charge [from each transaction] is a global common practice, so we’ll keep it.”

Macau Pass is accepted at about 13,000 points-of-sale (POS) across the city. Wong later added that these POS machines are the ones that detect and deduct money from cards.

Since the government’s announcement, the e-payment company has received more than 1,000 inquiries from retailers that are interested in installing a console.

Wong was questioned as to whether the company has the capacity to handle all the inquiries and complete the installation of the consoles, in case all of the inquirers decide on the installation.

She pledged that the company is confident in completing the installation work before the start of the program, which will be on May 1. “We have tripled our team to handle these applications,” the deputy general manager disclosed. “We have also simplified the application procedure, such as requesting a narrower range of documents.”

Some street hawkers and wet market retailers are not set up appropriately, with safe power sockets for example, to operate a Macau Pass console. Wong said that the company has technical support for these retailers, but did not give a specific explanation.

User registration for the program will start this Wednesday, March 18, and close on April 8. It will be conducted via the website of the Monetary Authority of Macao. Residents can approach the authority, as well as the Municipal Affairs Bureau’s service centers at Areia Preta, Taipa and China Plaza, for assistance with online registration.

Cards will be ready for collection between April 14 and 30 by appointment. The government subsidy will be effective from May to July. The daily spending cap is 300 patacas.

The Economic Bureau pointed out that the fund cannot be used for public utilities, gambling-related purchases, cross-border travel, financial services and medical services. Tai Kin Ip, head of the Bureau, clarified that it can be used to buy herbal medicines or Chinese soup packs at Chinese herbal pharmacies.

Newborn babies who do not have an ID card can be registered for the program by their parents or lawful guardians at the Identification Bureau.

Parents or lawful guardians of minors can register for their children. Upon registration, they will be required to print out a declaration form to state that they are registering for children.

Tai said the Economic Bureau will rely on the application of the law to guarantee the truthfulness of such declarations, similar to the practice at the Health Bureau. In other words, if a declaration is found at a later date to be dishonest, the declarants will face a criminal penalty.

Upon collection, the registrant’s ID card will be scanned by a console provided by Macau Pass. The government has assured the public that the company will not be able to access personal data collected for the program.

Each registered Macau resident will be given 3,000 patacas to spend at small and medium-sized enterprises in the city. The money will be loaded onto a Macau Pass card especially made for the program, although it will remain functional after the end of the program.

The program is expected to cost the government a total of 2.2 billion patacas. The equipment provider has pledged that it will not receive any funds from either the government or the retailers using its services.

Anthony Lam