More banks to provide Macau Pass online top-up services

Macau Pass CEO Zhang Zhihua

Local smartcard operator Macau Pass will increase cooperation with local banks to provide better services for Macau Pass users this year.

The announcement was made by Macau Pass CEO Zhang Zhihua last Friday, on the sidelines of the launch ceremony of Macau Pass’ new logos.

“Currently, there are three banks providing the Macau Pass online top-up tool. We are now negotiating with several [other] local financial organizations [to provide online top-up services]. The new services will be launched within this year,” revealed Zhang.

He added that Macau Pass hopes to extend its services beyond Macau, aiming to benefit the lives of Macau residents in the Greater Bay Area.

“We still hope we can extend our service to the outside, […] we are working towards that direction. In regards to the different policies across different Greater Bay Area cities, and the appeal of our target residents, first we have to assemble our operation in terms of circulation in the three regions,” said Zhang, adding that “this is not a product which can be launched in a short period of time. Related departments in three different zones are collaborating together.”

Furthermore, according to Zhang, Macau Pass will continue its alliance with Alibaba.

“We hope to learn good things from Alibaba and bring them to Macau. […] I believe we will have new products in the next half of this year. There will be local innovations [coming from local organizations] and other innovations based on cooperation with famous brands,” said Zhang.

Until now, the local smartcard operator has already set foot in more than 7,000 spots in Macau across 40 industries.

On a monthly basis, more than 20 million transactions are successfully made through Macau Pass, involving approximately 540 million patacas.

“Basically, we look at Macau residents’ daily life routine,” explained Zhang, when addressing the company’s research for new services.

“[Macau Pass] will spend efforts on such aspects as cross-border payments, hoping to bring convenience to Macau residents,” said Zhang.

Last Friday, Macau Pass launched its new logos, featuring mainly the colors green and orange.

According to Liu Hei Wan, chairman of Macau Pass, the company’s new image assists the Macau government’s strategy of promoting the region’s online and cashless payments, as well as bringing new synergies to Macau Pass itself, thereby pushing forward Macau’s local payment services.