If you’re a resident who travels to Hong Kong or is a tourist planning to visit this beautiful Chinese city, paying for things may get slightly more fun. According to the South China Morning Post on their report earlier today (Oct. 30,2017) the mobile payment company that manages the Octopus payment system is introducing a literal hand on a stick/wand that acts just like your Octopus card. Simply touch the end of the “hand” onto the Octopus contact reader and you can pay for your bridge toll without sticking your hand out of the windows. Check out a graphical representation of what that would look like below.
HK's Octopus Card leaps into 21st Century, space-age, digital, AI, autonomous, Virtual Reality era. Also makes great back-scratcher!!! pic.twitter.com/ScEpiNZIRi
— HK Hemlock (@HKBigLychee) October 31, 2017
If you didn’t already know Octopus is a smart card system of payment for not only tolls in Hong King, but most public transport as well as settling payment at all major convenience stores like 7-Eleven, fast food, Starbucks, and Restaurants.
As with all new things, some possible early adapters of this new “hand on a wand” are skeptical that it will catch on. One Octopus card user said,
“I would never use that gadget; I think it is ridiculous. I think it would take me longer to fiddle with that thing than just to lean out of the window.”
Another commenter said that the whole idea is a nonsense apparatus and would ultimately be counterproductive.
These ingenious hands on a wand are available for purchase at Circle K convenience shops in China for the HK equivalent of about $16. It’s unsure if they will be preloaded with money or if you have to do that separately.
If a similar device was introduced for tolls, at least here in California, I think it actually might catch on. Us Americans love silly little gimmicks that add a bit of fun to our lives. This would definitely land in that category. First, it makes paying for things fun. Additionally, it would be hard to lose this hand on a stick. How many times have you misplaced your debit card? If you lose it, it becomes a cause for panic until you can find that slim piece of plastic. It’d be hard to lose this hand on a stick.
While Chinese culture can be a bit more towards the conservative side with these new ideas, I really think it might catch on. I’ll update you on the popularity of these Octopus readers as time goes on.
