Visa and Octopus Expand QR Payment Acceptance in Hong Kong, Enabling Tourists to Pay Like They Do at Home

• Visitors to Hong Kong from across Asia Pacific can now scan and pay with their preferred home wallets via Visa Pay at Octopus QR merchants—no cash or additional local apps required.

HONG KONG, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa, a global leader in digital payments, today announced the expansion of Visa Scan to Pay acceptance in Hong Kong through a partnership with Octopus Cards Limited (Octopus), one of Hong Kong's leading everyday payment platforms, enabling Visa-powered QR payments at Octopus QR merchants across the city^[1].

Tourists visiting Hong Kong can use their preferred home payment apps—including Hyundai Card, Woori Card, Samsung Card, VNPT Money and soon to come LINE Pay, Shinhan Card — to pay at participating Octopus QR merchants, with more international payment apps to be added in the future. Payments are processed securely through Visa's global network, supporting a smooth and familiar checkout experience for visitors.

Making travel spending simpler for visitors

Hong Kong welcomes millions of visitors each year, and the way travelers pay plays an important role in their overall experience. According to Visa's latest Consumer Payment Attitudes Study^[2], about two in three travelers prefer to use contactless or mobile payments when travelling overseas, reflecting a growing move away from cash.

Paulina Leong, General Manager of Visa Hong Kong and Macau, said, "When people travel, they want payments to be effortless and familiar. Through our collaboration with Octopus, we're enabling visitors to pay in Hong Kong using the apps they already know and trust, giving them greater confidence and convenience wherever they go. At the same time, this helps local merchants serve more customers easily, capture more sales, and benefit from the continued strength and vibrancy of Hong Kong's tourism economy."

Building on the extensive Octopus QR infrastructure already in place, the small businesses currently using Octopus App for Business can now accept payments easily from inbound visitors across Asia Pacific through the Visa QR network, without the need to install new hardware or systems.

This reflects Visa's broader mission to simplify payments and empower growth for every business. Visa's solutions enable small businesses to scale by reducing the complexity of managing payments, enabling merchants to focus on growing their business and serving every customer.

Anthony Lau, Executive Director, Hong Kong Tourism Board, said, "The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) welcomes the partnership between Visa and Octopus, as the collaboration offers a wider range of cashless payment options in Hong Kong and aligns with global consumer trends. HKTB believes that enhanced payment convenience will further enrich visitors' shopping experiences and strengthen Hong Kong's image as a tourist friendly destination."

Andy Yip, Director, Consumer Business & Product, Octopus Cards Limited, said, "At Octopus, our commitment to making everyday life easier also applies to every visitor coming to Hong Kong. By partnering with Visa, tourists from across Asia Pacific can simply open the wallet app they use at home and pay instantly at any Octopus QR merchant, while our merchants receive these cross-border payments through the same Octopus setup, with no additional hardware needed. Looking ahead, we are excited to take this to the next level by enabling Octopus Wallet users to Scan to Pay when they travel overseas, helping to build a truly connected payment ecosystem for everyone, wherever they go."

Driving QR payment acceptance in Hong Kong

As part of Visa Pay, Visa Scan to Pay supports QR payments through wallets and bank apps. Consumers can use their everyday wallet with Visa's security infrastructure and global reach behind the scenes. Merchants can accept more ways to pay and meet local customer preferences, while keeping checkout simple. Visa Scan to Pay is part of Visa's broader strategy to connect consumers and businesses through trusted, secure, convenient payment experiences while supporting the continued growth of digital commerce across Asia Pacific. 

The launch of QR payment acceptance in Hong Kong represents the first phase of Visa's partnership with Octopus. Visa and Octopus will continue to explore enabling Octopus HK wallet users to Scan to Pay across the Asia Pacific region in 2027.

Visa will continue to grow the Visa QR network by onboarding more digital wallets over time, further expanding payment choice for international visitors and reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a world-class, visitor-friendly destination.

Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.

About Octopus Cards Limited (Licence Number: SVF0001)

Operating under the Stored Value Facilities Licence, Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) provides innovative offline and online Octopus payment services to meet customers' diverse payment needs. Launched in 1997 by OCL, the Octopus system in Hong Kong is one of the world's leading and most extensively accepted contactless smartcard payment systems. Its aspiration is to bring diversity and inclusion in payment to customers of all facets of life.

Today, more than 36 million Octopus cards and products are in circulation; spanning businesses including public transport, parking, retail, self-help services, schools, and leisure facilities, and access control for residential and commercial buildings. There are almost 210,000 Octopus acceptance points in the market. Octopus' application has been extended to online and mobile payment arenas with services including Octopus on iPhone and Apple Watch, Octopus on Samsung Pay, Octopus on Huawei Pay, Octopus App and Octopus Wallet, bringing new payment experiences to customers.

The Octopus Group exports its unique experience and technology overseas, offering consultancy services across the world. The mission of OCL is simple: Making everyday life easier. For more information about OCL, please visit www.octopus.com.hk.

[1] Visa cards issued in Hong Kong are not applicable to this initiative. Furthermore, payment authentication mechanism is controlled by wallet issuers.

[2] Visa's Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 5.0: Tourism and Megaevents polled 1,050 consumers travelling to and from Hong Kong, within the GBA, and from overseas markets, covering a range of ages, income levels, and districts. The survey was conducted in October–November 2025 through online interviews with respondents aged 18 to 55, with household incomes at or above the middle-income tier.

^[1] Visa cards issued in Hong Kong are not applicable to this initiative. Furthermore, payment authentication mechanism is controlled by wallet issuers.

^[2] Visa's Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 5.0: Tourism and Megaevents polled 1,050 consumers travelling to and from Hong Kong, within the GBA, and from overseas markets, covering a range of ages, income levels, and districts. The survey was conducted in October–November 2025 through online interviews with respondents aged 18 to 55, with household incomes at or above the middle-income tier.

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Visa and Octopus Expand QR Payment Acceptance in Hong Kong, Enabling Tourists to Pay Like They Do at Home

MUNICH, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Trina Storage, a global leader in energy storage solutions, today announced the release of its latest white paper, White Paper on Grid-Forming Energy Storage Systems. Developed in collaboration with TÜV Rheinland, the white paper explores the role of grid-forming energy storage in supporting system stability as power grids evolve toward higher shares of inverter-based renewable generation.

The white paper identifies key grid-forming capabilities, including voltage and frequency support, synthetic inertia, fault ride-through and black-start functionality. It also explores practical considerations for implementation, validation and long-term operation of grid-forming energy storage, drawing on both industry developments and project experience from global markets.

"The energy transition is reshaping power systems around the world, creating new challenges for grid stability and reliability," said Mr. Yu Hong, Head of Power Electronics Research Institute at Trina Storage. "Grid-forming capability is rapidly moving from a specialized requirement to a key consideration for future power systems. As renewable penetration increases, energy storage can play a much broader role in supporting grid resilience, flexibility and long-term reliability."

A key theme throughout the publication is the industry's transition from "device-level functionality" to "system-level capability". As requirements of grid-forming capability continue to evolve, the white paper emphasizes that successful deployment depends not only on inverter controls, but also on close coordination across batteries, power conversion systems, energy management systems, plant-level controls and grid interfaces. The white paper further highlights the importance of system integration, simulation and validation in ensuring reliable real-world performance.

To support this approach, Trina Storage has invested in dedicated simulation capabilities and a 20MVA validation platform designed to verify grid-forming performance across a wide range of operating conditions, providing a controllable environment to validate performance under a wide range of grid conditions before commercial deployment.

"As grid-forming technologies gain wider adoption, independent validation and testing will play an increasingly important role in ensuring reliable system performance," said Dr. Mengxuan Wang, Project Engineer at TÜV Rheinland. "This white paper shows a valuable perspective on the technical considerations and practical pathways for testing and validating grid-forming capabilities of power conversion systems in energy storage systems."

The publication also draws on experience from projects in markets, such as Australia and Chile, where rapidly evolving grid requirements have accelerated demand for advanced grid-support capabilities. As grids continue to evolve, Trina Storage expects grid-forming capability to become an increasingly important requirement for utility-scale energy storage projects worldwide.

The White Paper on Grid-Forming Energy Storage Systems is now available for download from Trina Storage's website.

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Trina Storage and TÜV Rheinland Release White Paper on Grid-Forming Energy Storage Systems