Press Release 16 June 2020
On-Loan Octopus Replacement Programme Continues in Phases
(Hong Kong, 16 June 2020) Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) announced that the First Generation On-Loan Octopus Replacement Programme has been successfully completed. It will now begin replacing those On-Loan Octopus issued from 2002 onwards in phases.
To continue to provide customers with reliable, fast and secure payment service, OCL is replacing On-Loan Octopus issued from 2002 onwards in phases for free. Starting tomorrow (17 June), each batch of Octopus which need to be replaced will be assigned a notification period of at least three months. A special reader prompt of “Dood~ Dood Dood” will be introduced as the notification begins to remind customers that they should replace their Octopus. Customers can replace their Octopus before expiry at Octopus Service Points at designated MTR stations or shopping malls, MTR Customer Service Centres (including Light Rail Customer Service Centre), designated Kowloon Motor Bus Customer Service Centres or designated New World First Ferry Customer and Octopus Service Centres* for free. Prior registration, either online or by mail, is required for replacing Personalised Octopus. At present, the card replacement programme is only applicable to Anonymous and Personalised On-Loan Octopus. The remaining value of the Octopus and most of its linked services or offers can be automatically transferred to the replacement Octopus within 1 minute (for details, please refer to Appendix I).
Additionally, users of iPhone or Apple Watch** can transfer a physical On-Loan Octopus that needs to be replaced to become an Octopus on iPhone or Apple Watch via the Wallet app, Watch app or Octopus App while users of Samsung mobile devices*** can transfer a physical On-Loan Octopus that needs to be replaced to become a Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay via the Samsung Pay app and the Octopus App.
The First Generation On-Loan Octopus Replacement Programme commenced in August 2015. By its completion in December 2019, about 70% of the 2 million in-circulation First Generation On-Loan Octopus had been replaced or returned, and the remaining 30% had become invalid. Customers with invalid Octopus can still apply for a refund of all remaining value at MTR Customer Service Centres, or to replace their Octopus at Octopus Service Points at no cost.
* For details, please visit this webpage: https://www.octopus.com.hk/en/consumer/card-replacement/about/index.html
** Mobile devices of Apple being supported include iPhone 8 and Apple Watch Series 3 or newer models using iOS 13.5 or watchOS 6.2.5 version or later. For details, please visit this webpage: https://www.octopus.com.hk/en/consumer/mobile-payment/apple-pay/about/index.html
*** Mobile devices of Samsung being supported include: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, Fold, Note10+, Note10, Note10 Lite, Note9, Note8, S20, S20+, S20 Ultra, S10, S10+, S10e, S9, S9+, S8, S8+, A80, A71, A70, A60, A51, A50s, A9, A8s, A8 Star, A8+, C9 Pro, C7 Pro and C5 Pro. For details, please visit this webpage: https://www.octopus.com.hk/en/consumer/mobile-payment/smart-octopus/about/index.html
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