Octopus is a universal electronic toll collection system in Hong Kong. The chip is embedded in a plastic card the size of a credit card, which can be recharged and placed on the receiver to complete the payment process. Octopus began to be used on September 1st, 1997. At first, it was only used in buses, railways and other public transport vehicles. Later, it was extended to other industries, including shops, restaurants, parking lots and other businesses. It was also used as a pass card for schools, offices and residences. The recharge method has also been extended from the initial recharge machine to the store payment office and automatic transfer by credit card and bank account protection. Octopus is one of the earliest and most successful electronic goods covers in the world, and its popularity is also the highest in the world. By 25, there were 12.4 million Octopus cards in circulation in Hong Kong, and the number of daily transactions exceeded 8 million. Based on this experience, Octopus Card Company obtained the contracts for developing electronic toll collection systems in the Netherlands and Changsha, China, and plans to interoperate with shenzhen tong of Shenzhen Metro in the future. When using Octopus to pay, when the transaction is completed, the card reader will sound "Du", and the green light on the display screen will light up and show the deducted amount and the balance of the card. Therefore, Hong Kong people used to call using Octopus a "Du" card. The Chinese name of the name and logo Octopus literally means "you can extend in all directions with your card". Chinese "eight" can represent "many" and is regarded as a lucky number because it is homophonic with "hair". Octopus's "Bada" is taken from the idiom "extending in all directions", which means that one card can pass everywhere in your hand. This name was selected by Jack So, the former chairman of the MTR Corporation, as the winner in the nomination contest in 1996. Octopus (Octopus), the English name of Octopus, echoes the Chinese name "eight". Octopus's wrist can grab many things at the same time, which means Octopus can be used in different kinds of transactions at the same time. The symbol of Octopus is an oblique Mobius belt, which is like an Arabic numeral 8 and an infinite symbol ∞. The former is to echo the name of Octopus, while the latter means to represent the "infinite" function of Octopus. Application technology The Octopus system uses Sony's 13.56MHz FeliCa RFID chip and other related technologies. Hong Kong is the first region in the world to use this technology in the public transport toll collection system. The contactless smart card design of Octopus enables users to conduct transactions only by approaching the Octopus card reader without direct physical contact (for example, inserting the whole card into the card reader). In terms of data transmission speed, 212 kbit messages are transmitted per second. Mondex and Visa Cash, the electronic money systems that have been eliminated in the Hong Kong market, are both contact smart cards, which can only transmit 9.6 kbit messages per second, so they are inevitably replaced by Octopus. Octopus system is a Smart Card Transit Systems technical design invented by ERG Group headquartered in Perth, Australia. ERG is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the whole technical system. Types and Forms Octopus are available at MTR stations and airports. When purchasing Octopus, you need to pay a deposit of HK$ 5 yuan and a prepaid ticket value of 2 to 1 yuan. The deposit will be returned when the Octopus card is returned. Octopus is anonymous and can be purchased without identification documents. If the user loses this Octopus card, he will only lose the stored value in the card and will not lose any other personal data. In addition to four kinds of one-size-fits-all Octopus cards for people with different identities, Octopus Company also issues individual Octopus cards. 1. The stored value of different kinds of Octopus children's pink is HK$ 2, and the total amount is HK$ 7, which is suitable for children between the ages of 3 and 11. Children's Octopus can enjoy a half-price discount on public transport (except minibuses and some village buses). The blue stored value of students is HK$ 5, and the total amount of HK$ 1 is suitable for full-time students. When taking the subway, they can enjoy preferential fares, but taking other means of transportation or spending is no different from that of adult Octopus. If you want to enjoy the subway fare, you need to have a "subway student pass". Passenger passes and student Octopus cards have been discontinued and replaced by personal Octopus cards with student status. Student Octopus users can continue to use them until they are damaged. However, from February 1, 26, adult fares will also be deducted when using student Octopus to ride the subway. Adult gold stored value of HK$ 1, total HK$ 15 standard Octopus. The green stored value of the elderly is HK$ 2 and the total amount is HK$ 7. The applicable age depends on the requirements of different merchants (the applicable age of Citybus is over 6 and that of KMB is 65). Adult fees will be charged when the senior citizen discount is not applicable. Personal color stored value is HK$ 3, handling fee is HK$ 2, and the total amount is HK$ 1. Personal Octopus needs to be registered with the user's name printed on it, or you can choose to print photos. It is mostly used to enter buildings and other facilities, or to replace student Octopus. 2. Personal Octopus Personal Octopus is a non-anonymous Octopus card issued by Octopus Company. The name of the cardholder is printed on the card, or a photo can be printed, and the age of the cardholder is stored to determine the age group (child, adult or elder). However, student status needs to be applied separately, and eligible Hong Kong full-time students aged between 12 and 25 can apply. At present, the personal Octopus has gradually replaced the one-size-fits-all version of the student Octopus that has been discontinued. As of March, 25, there are 38, people holding personal Octopus. In addition to the basic functions of Octopus, personal Octopus can also be used as a key card to enter residential and commercial buildings and other facilities. When the personal Octopus is lost, the cardholder can report the loss immediately, and the operation of the card will be frozen after 6 hours from the time of reporting the loss to prevent the card from being stolen. The City University of Hong Kong and more than 5 secondary schools also use personal Octopus to record attendance and borrow books from school libraries. Personal Octopus can also enjoy automatic recharge service. Octopus cardholders can register to use local bank accounts or credit cards to automatically recharge Octopus. When the remaining stored value of Octopus is less than , it will be automatically recharged at HK$ 25 or HK$ 5, and can only be recharged automatically once every 24 hours. As of 27, 22 local banks, including HSBC and Bank of China (HK), have provided this service. 3. Commemorative Octopus Octopus Company will issue a special edition of commemorative Octopus from time to time, usually through special festivals or events. They are usually worth HK$ 1 and contain HK$ 1 denominations. Although it cannot be returned, it can be used as an octopus. 4. Special Purpose Octopus MTR has launched a set of "Airport Express Visitor Octopus-Three-Day Hong Kong Traffic Pass", which has two versions: three-day unlimited ride on the Hong Kong subway, one free one-way ticket on the Airport Express, with an online discount price of HK$ 22, HK$ 185, and two free one-way tickets on the Airport Express, with an online discount price of HK$ 3 and above HK$ 29. There is also the "Airport Employee Octopus", which is specially designed for airport employees and offers preferential prices for the airport express line. 5. Collected Octopus Card As Octopus is one of Hong Kong's characteristics, it attracts a large number of tourists, including free travellers from Chinese mainland, to buy it as a souvenir. Octopus Company also provides a "collected version" of Octopus card, which is mainly aimed at tourists and other people who want to buy it as a souvenir.