Card-sharp: Postmaster General Allan Chiang (centre) visits the e-Cert Service Centre in Elizabeth House to hand out e-Cert souvenir covers.

Bulk replacement of the smart ID card started today for the first batch of Hong Kong residents born in 1968-69, and HK Post is offering a one-year-free e-Cert for the card.

To make applying for the e-Cert more convenient, HK Post has set up special service counters at the Immigration Department's Smart ID Card Centres.

Applicants can also register in advance on the HK Post website, by post, by fax or in person at post offices.

With the e-Cert, users can confidently and safely engage in many online activities and transactions, including banking, stock trading, auctions, shopping, secure email communication, access to personal credit reports, electronic Government and betting services.

Visiting a HK Post service counter in Elizabeth House's Smart ID Card Centre, Postmaster General Allan Chiang gave away souvenir covers to successful e-Cert applicants and answered their questions.

Mr Chiang anticipated a growing list of service providers as the e-Cert grows in popularity.

"To add to the convenience of the e-Cert embedded smart ID card holders, we have assembled a range of e-Cert compatible smart card readers for sale at designated post offices and Smart ID Card Centres so that the card holders can conduct transactions at home or [the] office," he said.

Alice Zhang, an e-Cert applicant, said: "I have been using the e-Cert, and now as the e-Cert is inserted in the smart ID card, this will definitely be a great help to my work and business."

Another e-Cert applicant Sin Ka-lok said: "I learned from TV commercials that we can apply for the one-year-free e-Cert when obtaining our smart ID cards. I will try to use the e-Cert on the smart ID card to file my tax returns online."