East Asia & Pacific · GDP rank #24
Hong Kong
HK · HKD @ 0.1276/USD
Tab 03
Rails & infrastructure
The instant rail, the RTGS spine, the card switch, the direct-debit scheme, and the country's CBDC stance. Each rail is reported with operator, launch year, and 2024 flow so the relative scale across rails is readable at a glance.
CBDC status is deliberately granular: live, pilot, preparation, live stalled, and sceptical, no pilot are different things.
e-HKD (Project e-HKD) + mBridge
Target · retail decision 2027
e-HKD retail pilot completed October 2025; HKMA has not committed to retail issuance and is prioritising wholesale e-HKD plus Project Ensemble tokenised-deposit work. Stablecoin Ordinance live since August 2025; first issuer licences granted April 2026 to HSBC and Anchorpoint. China's exit from Project mBridge as full member in late 2024 leaves HKMA as the principal host.
Instant payments
FPS (Faster Payment System)
The instant leg typically carries the vast majority of retail consumer flow in modern payment systems — and sits in direct tension with card networks and wallets for the same transactions.
FPS supports HKD and CNY settlement; 15.2m registered users (>200% of adult population due to multiple alias registrations).
- Operator
- Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited (HKICL) under HKMA
- Live since
- 2.0k
- Per-txn limit
- NaN HKD
- Fee per txn
- HK$0 for consumers
Transactions · 2024
Cleared value · 2024
Participating institutions
RTGS
HKD RTGS (CHATS)
The RTGS spine clears high-value interbank flow — including the settlement of the instant-rail cycles and card-network net positions. Transaction count is modest; cleared value is enormous.
- Operator
- HKMA / HKICL
Transactions · 2024
Cleared value · 2024
Card switch
JETCO + EPS + UnionPay Merchant Services
Multiple switches coexist — JETCO for ATM, EPS (Electronic Payment System) for Bank ATM + retail debit, UnionPay for cross-border.
Source · JETCO
Direct debit
eDDA (Electronic Direct Debit Authorisation)
Direct debit is the boring rail that carries recurring subscriptions, utilities, and payroll pull-payments. It is routinely the largest single channel by count after cards.
Transactions · 2024