Payments Snapshot in Hong Kong: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sector Impact

Payments Snapshot in Hong Kong: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sector Impact

Summary

The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, dubbed COVID-19, is first and foremost a human tragedy, affecting millions of people globally. The contagious Coronavirus, which broke out at the close of 2019, has led to a medical emergency across the world, with the World Health Organization officially declaring the novel Coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Hong Kong has recorded over 1,000 total confirmed cases, with the death toll at 4. The anti-government protests and the US-China trade war saw the country’s economy decline by 1.2% in 2019 - the first contraction in 10 years. The battered economy will further plunge due to the effects of Coronavirus. The country’s unemployment reached a nine-year high of 3.7% in February 2020.

Hong Kong is a major financial hub in Asia. A slowdown in economic activity caused by the virus and a sustained closure of its borders are leading the country’s economy into a recession, which will impact the payments industry.

This report focuses on the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak on both the economyand the cards and payments industry in Hong Kong. Based on our proprietary datasets, the snapshotprovides a detailed comparison between pre-COVID-19 forecasts andrevised forecasts of total payment card, debit card, and credit and charge card transactions by value and volume. It also offers information on measures taken by the government to combat Coronavirus.

Scope

- The pandemic is set to have a severe impact on the country’s tourism and retail industries. Tourism alone accounts for 4.5% of the country’s GDP and employs around 260,000 individuals. Due to the outbreak, tourist arrivals decreased by 96.4% in February 2020 compared to February 2019, while visitors from the Chinese mainland decreased by 97.8%. Sales of luxury items including watches, jewelry, and gifts declined by record levels during the same period.
- Online spending is surging as wary consumers are staying at home and using online channels to purchase goods. HKTVmall, a Hong Kong-based e-commerce platform, reported a 165% increase in the number of orders in February 2020 compared to February 2019. The online rush is expected to benefit popular online payment tools such as AlipayHK, WeChat Pay, and PayPal.
- The growing acceptance of electronic payments at merchant stores will also support the adoption and usage of mobile wallet solutions, as these are arguably even safer than plastic cards in terms of avoiding disease vectors. Electronic payments firm Octopus announced that its mobile wallet usage increased by 20% and 30% in January and February respectively.

Reasons to Buy

- Make strategic decisions using top-level revised forecast data on the Hong Kong's payment industry.
- Understand the key market trends, challenges, and opportunities in the Hong Kong's cards and payments industry.
- Receive a comprehensive insight into payments market in Hong Kong.