All-inclusive e-wallets

He believes that digital payment is still the best solution, and the use of all types of Hong Kong e-wallets should be expanded as soon as possible as they're not all-inclusive at present.

According to a report released by the central bank last year, five cross-boundary electronic wallets from the Hong Kong and Macao SARs had accumulated about 9.26 million transactions on the mainland worth HK$1.5 billion ($191 million) by the end of 2021. It said the People's Bank of China has continued to promote financial reform and innovation concerning Hong Kong people's livelihoods on the mainland.

The central government has repeatedly pledged in national policy documents to make it more convenient for Hong Kong people to make payments in traveling, living and working in the Greater Bay Area, so there won't be any financial supervision barrier, says Wu.

But what worries Wu is that many Hong Kong consumers are used to paying for goods and services with cash and credit cards instead of digital widgets.

But, the situation has improved in recent years with local usage of digital tools also surging in Hong Kong. AlipayHK and WeChat Pay HK have been making it easier for people to go about their lives, with mainland merchants beginning to accept payments with Hong Kong e-wallets in 2018. Hong Kong users no longer need to link their accounts with a mainland bank in making cross-boundary payments, and currencies are converted automatically.

At present, mainland merchants are not required to pay an extra fee before linking up with e-wallet platforms, and handling fees are waived for all transactions.

According to a survey report published on March 14 by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research - the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance - nearly 70 percent of respondents agreed that e-wallets play an important role in facilitating cross-boundary activities. Some of those polled said customers could use the cross-boundary e-wallet services previously launched to settle cross-boundary payments conveniently.

Almost all mainland merchants listed on Alipay are entitled to accept AlipayHK payments now, says Venetia Lee, general manager of Ant Group Greater China International Business.

With the resumption of normal cross-boundary travel in January this year, the number of AlipayHK transactions by Hong Kong users on the mainland had jumped 1,800 percent during the first three days of the Lunar New Year holidays, according to Lee.