Monitise announced it has launched its Mobile Money technology platform in Hong Kong through a partnership with Hong Kong mobile operator PCCW-HKT and local ATM network provider Joint Electronic Teller Service. The three companies are rolling out the Easy TopUp service, which enables consumers to top up their mobile phones from their bank accounts using their handsets.

Monitise said Easy TopUp is available in Chinese and English. The U.K.-based company, whose technology platform connects banks and mobile network operators, has its Asian commercial base in Hong Kong.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) is the first bank in Hong Kong to provide Easy TopUp, enabling its customers to top up their mobile airtime and data SIM cards instantly from their bank accounts.

The Easy TopUp service, the first of its kind in Hong Kong according to the announcement, will be offered by JETCO to its network of around 30 member banks in Hong Kong and Macau. JETCO provides access to real-time guaranteed funds through its payments switching capabilities with member banks.

The regulatory approval and launch of Easy TopUp was announced as part of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's trade mission to China. Monitise CEO Alastair Lukies is in the 100-strong group of British executives visiting China during the first week of December with Cameron.

Following the initial launch in Hong Kong, Monitise plans to extend its Mobile Money services platform to mainland China. BOCHK has 41 branches in Mainland China as well as its 260 Hong Kong branches.

"We are delighted to see our first Chinese language Mobile Money solutions go live in a market with such an incredible appetite for mobile technology services," Monitise Asia Pacific CEO Darren Sugden said in the news release. "This launch provides a solid foundation for future initiatives in this market and across the broader Asia Pacific region."

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