A Hong Kong fintech platform is hoping to shake up the taxi industry and boost convenience for residents and visitors by bringing contactless payments to the city’s predominantly cash-only fleet.
Wonder, billed as Hong Kong’s first fully digital all-in-one payment platform, will allow drivers to accept multiple forms of payment and let customers pay for taxi fares using their phones.
“Wonder works more like a consolidated payment gateway that allows the merchant to accept payment from all different payment means,” founder Jason Ngan said in an interview with the Post at Hong Kong’s Fintech Week.
Wonder first began working on the idea in late 2022 and had launched the technology in 100 taxis by October 30 this year. The company aims to have the service in more than 1,000 taxis in the next three months and is determined to reach 10,000 taxis in a year’s time.
Government statistics show that there are 18,163 taxis in Hong Kong: 15,250 urban taxis, 2,838 New Territories taxis and 75 Lantau taxis.
Wonder is a subsidiary of Bindo Labs, an omnichannel company Ngan started in 2010. Bindo Labs works with online payment systems for the food and beverage industry. Launching the technology in the taxi industry was a natural next step.
Wonder’s system works as an upgrade to the taxi’s meter system, allowing it to accept different payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, Alipay and UnionPay. At the end of a journey, the rider scans a Wonder QR code and chooses to make an online transaction, without the need to download a separate app. Alipay is associated with Alibaba, which owns the Post.
Each fare incurs a 3.5 per cent surcharge.
Ronson Chau, head of growth at Bindo Labs, said most customers using Wonder are taking short trips that cost less than HK$100. The added fee on average is only a few dollars, he said.
“Most commuters may round up their fare when using cash anyway, because they don’t want to carry small change,” Chau said. “From this perspective we figured the administrative cost was a fair price for the convenience of using online payment.”
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Hong Kong is one of the few major cities where cash is still king for taxi fares, unless a commuter prepays to book a taxi via an app like Uber.
The city’s cash-only taxis are a point of frustration for local residents and visitors. One local commuter said they had been hit with exorbitant late-night fees when forced to use an app like Uber.
“This causes so much trouble especially on a late night out when I just want to get home and I don’t have cash,” said a 22-year-old female resident who works as a video journalist, who asked not to be named.
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“The current system is so inconvenient for both locals and tourists,” said another commuter, Jessie Zhang, a 26-year-old real estate executive trainee in Hong Kong. “I was once scolded by the driver because I only had HK$1,000 bills and the fare was HK$400.”
As it stands, a taxi driver would need to reach out to each payment platform separately to accept multiple forms of payment.
“It’s a very tedious process,” said Ngan. “It’s also not guaranteed. Some payment platforms require business registration, which a taxi driver would not have.”
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Another benefit of Wonder to the industry is that the driver can receive the electronic payment on the same day of the transaction. Most electronic payment systems have a one- or two-day delay, which is another reason taxi drivers hesitate to offer electronic options.
“So many have failed to bring this technology to the taxi industry,” Ngan said. “It was a very daunting process at first, even though we have been in the payment industry for a little over 10 years.”
