With the escalation of the anti-extradition bill protest, some members of the community are advocating a public octopus strike to boycott the MTR Corporation. However, except for taxi, octopus seems to be the only electronic payment method available for most forms of transport in Hong Kong. This raises several questions: 1) There are many electronic payment methods in Hong Kong, including but limited to credit cards, Apple pay, Alipay, etc., but why the octopus is still the only solution to transportation payment, leaving alone cash? Meanwhile, Hong Kong as an international financial center, why many small shops and vendors still accept cash only, leaving not much sign of a “cashless society”? Recently, with the official launch of the Faster Payment System (FPS), Hong Kong seems to have taken a big step forward, but will it be enough to keep up with its foreign neighbors? (continue reading……)