How to Check Your Octopus Card Balance in Hong Kong (With & Without the App)

Not sure how much is left before you tap into the MTR? To check your Octopus card balance you have two routes: with the Octopus app, or without it, using the free machines in every MTR station. Neither needs an account for a normal tourist card, and neither costs anything unless you want a printout. Here is every way to see your balance, which methods work for a plastic card versus an Octopus loaded into your phone, and the one thing you cannot do remotely.

The quickest way: read it off a machine

Every time you tap to pay, the reader shows your remaining value right there on its screen, and it prints on the receipt if the shop gives you one (not every service provider does). So the fastest check is simply to glance at your last tap.

To see your balance on demand without buying anything, use an Octopus Enquiry Machine. There is one in every MTR station, usually near the Customer Service Centre by the gates. Rest the card flat on the pad and the screen shows your remaining value plus your last 10 transactions, free of charge. The Octopus Service Points at busy locations around the city do the same job. For most visitors this is the whole answer, and it needs no app and no setup.

Checking your balance in the Octopus app

If you would rather not hunt for a machine, the Octopus app reads a physical card straight through your phone. Download the app, open Transactions & Balance, choose Octopus Card, then hold the card flat against the upper back of your phone, where the NFC antenna sits. The app shows your remaining value, your recent transactions and your last reload.

Your phone needs NFC, which every recent iPhone and most Android phones have. You do not have to register an account just to read a card, though signing up does let you keep the last three months of spending on record. If the figure is lower than you expected, you can top up your Octopus card in the same app or with cash at any convenience store.

If your Octopus lives inside your phone

A card you have added to a phone wallet is checked differently, because there is no plastic to tap against a reader. The method depends on the wallet.

• Octopus on iPhone or Apple Watch: open the Octopus app, or simply find the card in the Apple Wallet app, where the balance sits on the card face. If you have not set this up yet, see our guide to adding your Octopus to Apple Wallet.
• Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay: the Octopus app hands you over to the Samsung Pay app to read the balance. The same applies if you are running Octopus on an Android phone.
• Huawei Pay Octopus: check it inside the HUAWEI Wallet app.

Can you check your balance online?

This is where a lot of visitors get stuck. You cannot look up a standard tourist card's balance from a website using just the card number. The value lives on the chip, and the app reads it over NFC, so the card has to be physically present against a phone or a machine. There is no remote lookup for an anonymous card.

The exception is a Personalised Octopus or a card signed up to the Automatic Add Value Service: those holders can request their transaction history through Octopus's online Transaction Enquiry Form. For a plain tourist card, the machine or the app is your only route. One handy side effect: if a reader or Enquiry Machine reads the card and shows a value at all, the card is active and working. If you are near the end of your trip and the balance is low, you can also get a refund of the remaining balance and deposit before you fly home.

Quick answers

Can I check my Octopus card balance online? Not a standard tourist card. The balance sits on the card's chip and is read by tapping the card on a machine or a phone, so it cannot be looked up from a website with just the card number. Only Personalised or Automatic Add Value cardholders can pull transaction history online, through the Octopus Transaction Enquiry Form.

How do I check my Octopus balance on an iPhone? For a plastic card, open the Octopus app, tap Transactions & Balance, choose Octopus Card and hold the card against the upper back of the iPhone. If the Octopus is added to Apple Wallet, the balance shows on the card in the Wallet app.

How can I tell if an Octopus card is still active? Tap it on an Octopus Enquiry Machine at any MTR station. If it reads and shows a balance, the card is working. One that has sat unused for a long time may need reactivating before it works again.

How do I check the balance without the app? Use a free Octopus Enquiry Machine at any MTR station, or just read the value shown on the reader the last time you tapped. Both show your remaining balance at no cost.

Does checking my balance cost anything? No. Reading it on a machine, on the reader or in the app is free. You only pay HK$3 if you ask a 7-Eleven or Circle K to print out your last 10 transactions.