The Apple Pay Octopus service launch date possibility is centered on a planned October 14 update of the Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) Schedule of Fees and Guid, which makes sense because service fees need to added or updated for Apple Pay.
System maintenance of all mobile related Octopus services took place October 8 3am~6am local Hong Kong time. It was a precise list of services that would need to be offline to add Apple Pay Octopus support. This followed a similar October 3 mobile system maintenance and suggests a ramp up on the backend system.
I hope this is not a false alarm. At the very least I think we could be close to having a launch announcement from OCL by October 14 with a launch shortly after. For comparison the Smart Octopus on Samsung Pay launch announcement was made on a Monday, service started 3 days later.
Given the current situation in Hong Kong however, nothing is certain. Things are not easy for many in Hong Kong right now, but I hope for the best and send my sincere wishes for the safety of all.
10/14 UPDATE: the updated Schedule of Fees and Guidelines has no references to Apple Pay Octopus, nor is there any announcement from OCL. However there is a new reference to ‘wearables’ in the Mobile Device section of the updated Conditions of Issue of Octopus which means Apple Watch. There is no wearable for Octopus at this point, Apple Watch is the only device that fits the reference.
10/16 UPDATE: with no reference to Apple Pay in the updated Schedule of Fees and Guidelines, and only a hint of Apple Watch in the updated Conditions of Issue of Octopus, nor any sign of a launch announcement from OCL, yet another miss.
Given the current difficult situation in Hong Kong and long rocky road of OCL delivering Octopus on Apple Pay, it’s time for me to get out of the Apple Pay Octopus prediction business. It will come when it comes: after the rumored October Apple Event, the iOS 13.2 release, whatever. Until then stay safe and happy transit wherever you may be.
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