Huawei also enters mobile payment services
How long can the newcomer “HUAWEI Pay” for smartphone payments be used in Hong Kong?
The number of users of QR code payments using smartphones is increasing rapidly, but competition for payment services using NFC by smartphone manufacturers is likely to intensify. Following in the footsteps of Apple, which boasts an overwhelming share in this field, Samsung Electronics entered the market. Finally, Huawei also launched "HUAWEI Pay".
HUAWEI Pay is currently only available in a few countries, including China, Hong Kong, and Russia. If you register multiple credit cards, you can easily pay at the store by simply holding your smartphone over it. This time, I tried the HUAWEI Pay in Hong Kong where the author lives.
HUAWEI Pay service in several countries such as China
HUAWEI Pay is compatible with Huawei's NFC built-in smartphones. According to Huawei's website, the following models are compatible as of June 2020. This time I tried using HUAWEI P40 purchased in Hong Kong.
This time, try using HUAWEI Pay with HUAWEI P40
To use HUAWEI Pay in Hong Kong, you must first log in with your HUAWEI ID on the HUAWEI AppGallery and set the registered country/region to Hong Kong from the settings. The author used another Huawei terminal in the past, so the country of HUAWEI ID was Japan, so I changed it. Next, launch the Wallet app and add a card. There are three types of cards that can be used in Hong Kong: Bank of China (Hong Kong), ICBC, and Tap&Go (UnionPay).
Activate Wallet and register a card
Tap & Go is a prepaid debit card. Registration requires a Hong Kong ID card or passport and a Hong Kong mobile phone number. Mobile phone numbers can be prepaid, so even foreigners may be able to register with their passports (I am a Hong Kong resident, so I registered with my Hong Kong ID). If you are interested in reading this article, please try it with passport registration.
Tap & Go will register UnionPay card (UnionPay), MasterCard, and their debit cards after registration. Charging can be done with cash from a convenience store in Hong Kong using a QR code. UnionPay card can be registered with HUAWEI Pay with Tap & Pay, so I put 100 Hong Kong dollars (about 1400 yen).
Tap&Go is a prepaid debit card. Two cards, Master and UnionPay, are created (left). Convenience store payment is possible with QR code (middle). Inserting HK$100 into UnionPay card (right)
Now, use HUAWEI Pay to scan the screen of the card on your smartphone or enter the numbers manually to complete the card registration. When registering, you can register your fingerprint as authentication at the time of payment, so you do not need to enter your passcode every time.
Added Tap&Go UnionPay card to HUAWEI Pay
Let's use it right away. Let's use it with an automatic ordering machine at a fast food restaurant. The payment services that can be used are displayed next to the terminal, but there is no HUAWEI Pay. However, since the UnionPay card is registered, HUAWEI Pay can be used on UnionPay cashless terminals.
Try to pay at McDonald's
Place an order, choose a payment method, and touch the NFC reader with your HUAWEI P40. The Wallet app will start automatically.
Tap to launch the Wallet app from the background
Continue with fingerprint authentication. Then, the screen of the reader of the payment machine becomes the communication screen. We are successfully communicating with the UnionPay center. After a few seconds, a receipt will appear and the payment will be completed. All you have to do is take your receipt and wait for your number to be called at the meal pick-up counter.
If the fingerprint authentication passes, the communication will start and the payment will be completed.
If you launch the Tap & Go app here, the purchase amount of HK$11 will be deducted and your balance will be HK$89. Your payment has been successfully completed. For personal reasons, I have the Tap & Go app on another smartphone.
Confirm that the balance has decreased in the Tap & Go app
It seems that membership cards will be able to be registered in HUAWEI Pay in the future. Unfortunately, at the moment there are not many benefits. This is because there are not many preferential services using HUAWEI Pay. Moreover, there are still only a few shops in Hong Kong that accept HUAWEI Pay. Therefore, at present, there is no choice but to use it at stores that accept UnionPay, and even if you receive preferential treatment, it will only be for UnionPay.
Cashless payment that can be used at convenience stores in Hong Kong. No HUAWEI Pay
When Samsung Pay started in Hong Kong, there was a large-scale payment discount campaign. In addition, it also supports Hong Kong's transportation IC card "Octopus Card", which can be said to be the Hong Kong version of Suica. The Octopus card has recently been compatible with Apple Pay, but iPhone users continue to envy Galaxy users, and the Octopus card is an essential IC card that everyone has in Hong Kong. However, HUAWEI Pay does not have any outstanding campaigns and does not support Octopus cards.
One of the stores that accepts HUAWEI Pay, China Unicom Hong Kong
However, HUAWEI Pay is just getting started. In the future, we will increase the number of stores that can use HUAWEI Pay independently, and we will promote large-scale cashback campaigns. In addition, Huawei's smartwatch already has a transportation IC card function for each city in China. In the future, if you build a wallet into your smartwatch and register an IC card with HUAWEI Pay, the benefits of using it will expand. In a few years, Huawei smartphones will be as convenient for payments as iPhones.
Huawei Pay will soon be available on smartwatches
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