Hong Kong’s MTR Corp to accept popular mainland Chinese payment card from next week

Commuters and tourists will be able to use a popular mainland Chinese payment card for most trips on Hong Kong’s MTR starting at the end of next week, as the city’s rail operator looks to provide greater convenience to visitors.

The MTR Corporation announced on Friday the China T-Union Card would be accepted as a new fare payment option, following the introduction of contactless bank card payments in recent years.

“Starting from [March 22], each MTR station in the heavy rail network except Airport Express stations will be equipped with at least two entry/exit gates providing ‘China T-Union Card’ payment service,” the company said.

Automatic ticket gates currently accept Octopus cards, QR code tickets and contactless bank cards, as well as physical and electronic single-journey tickets.

The MTR Corp said the China T-Union Card was being used in more than 300 cities on the mainland. The card is different to the Octopus – China T-Union Card that was launched last year.

The rail operator said gates supporting the new function would display the China T-Union logo and passengers could tap their cards on the Octopus readers to enter or exit.