CryptoSlate
"Visa and Chainlink have completed a key milestone in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) e-HKD+ Pilot Programme, successfully testing a cross-border blockchain transaction using central bank digital currency (CBDC) and stablecoins. The trial, conducted in partnership with ANZ, ChinaAMC, and Fidelity International, is one of the first real-world simulations of programmable money being used for cross-border investment in tokenized assets."
IBS Intelligence
"Visa has announced the official rollout of Click to Pay in partnership with ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s first and largest virtual bank. This launch makes ZA Bank the first card issuer across Asia Pacific to enable the Visa Click to Pay solution, with further expansion planned in 11 additional regional markets."
Ledger Insights
"Hong Kong’s Legislative Council passed the Stablecoin Bill for fiat-referenced stablecoins. The legislation is expected to come into force later this year and is seen as a key pillar in Hong Kong’s desire to maintain and enhance its position as an international financial center."
Business Wire
"Ant International announced its collaboration with HSBC on the bank’s new Tokenised Deposit Service in Hong Kong. The service will support treasury management with real-time, always-on HKD and USD payments between corporate wallets held by a corporate client at HSBC Hong Kong. The Tokenised Deposit Service is also the first bank-led, blockchain-based settlement service in Hong Kong."
South China Morning Post
"A survey found that 42 per cent of Hongkongers use Alipay and 22 per cent use Apple Pay, but credit cards are likely to remain relevant"
Reuters
"Standard Chartered Plc said its Hong Kong banking division, Animoca Brands and HKT will establish a joint venture to apply for a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority for issuance of a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin."
Fintech Hong Kong
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has announced plans to connect the Hong Kong FPS with mainland China’s Internet Banking Payment System (IBPS) this year, enabling small cross-border transactions using mobile phone numbers."
PR Newswire
Hang Seng Bank unveiled the newly renovated Hong Kong Main Branch in Central with the launch of Future Banking 2.0 – a bold transformation that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology with personalised customer service.
Open Banking Expo
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched a developer platform in collaboration with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), as part of its Interbank Account Data Sharing (IADS) initiative."
Adyen
"Adyen announced its partnership with Aigens, a Hong Kong-based food and beverage (F&B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider. Through this collaboration, Aigens incorporates Adyen’s payment capabilities in its Aigens Pay offering, helping restaurants in Hong Kong and Singapore optimize their front- and back-of-house operations with a single omnichannel solution."
PR News Wire
"Worldline announced a partnership with the Bank of China (Hong Kong), making it Worldline's first customer of its open platform card solution Paysuite Essential Edition (Previously named Cardlite) in Hong Kong."
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority commenced Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme (Phase 2) to delve deeper into innovative use cases for new forms of digital money, including e-HKD and tokenised deposits, that can potentially be used by individuals and corporates."
The Tokenizer
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has officially launched the Project Ensemble Sandbox, a groundbreaking initiative to advance the tokenization of assets in Hong Kong. This project is a key element of Project Ensemble, HKMA’s wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) venture, aimed at supporting the development of the tokenization market."
Fintech Hong Kong
"The linkage between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA) Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) and the Hong Kong Government’s Consented Data Exchange Gateway (CDEG) is now fully operational. Banks can now directly access company information, such as names, registered addresses, facilitating processes like account opening, fraud detection, and Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures."
Asian Banking & Finance
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has collaborated with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company to launch a generative AI sandbox. Banks are encouraged to make full use of this resource to unlock the power of GenA.I. in enhancing effective risk management, anti-fraud efforts and customer experience.”
Decrypt
"The proposed rules would require a physical presence in Hong Kong, reserves to be kept at Hong Kong banks, and prohibit paying interest to holders."
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced participants of the stablecoin issuer sandbox: JINGDONG Coinlink Technology Hong Kong Limited, RD InnoTech Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited, Animoca Brands Limited, Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited."
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
"The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority jointly issued the consultation conclusions on the legislative proposal to implement a regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong. The proposed regulatory requirements and implementation arrangements received general support from respondents, with some further enhancements suggested in the submissions."
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
"The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, together with the rest of the mBridge project team, announced that Project mBridge has reached the Minimum Viable Product stage. Project mBridge aims to study how central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and innovative solutions can be applied to solve the key pain points in cross-border payments."
PR Newswire
"InComm Payments announced it is launching gift cards for Roblox, the online immersive platform where millions of people connect and communicate daily, at online and physical retailers in Hong Kong."
Business Wire
"In support of Hong Kong's new mega tourism and commerce drive, Alipay+ now enables users of 14 leading overseas mobile wallets and bank apps from 9 countries and regions to make seamless payment in Hong Kong from their home apps. This represents the largest number of international payment apps introduced at the city’s offline commercial network through cross-border cooperation at one time."
Coindesk
"Project Ensemble will "seek to explore innovative financial market infrastructure (FMI) that will facilitate seamless interbank settlement of tokenized money," HKMA said."
Finance Asia
"HKMA and the PBOC announced further support for the expansion of use cases of the digital yuan in Hong Kong, targeting local consumers and travellers."
South China Morning Post
"The Hong Kong Association of Banks will consider the future of cheques as a payment method amid a 34 per cent decline in their use over the past five years."
CoinGeek
"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started discussions with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the U.S. Federal Reserve, and the international payment platform SWIFT to explore cross-border payments for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs)."
Reuters
"Thailand's central bank and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Monday launched a link for cross-border QR payments, they said in a joint statement."
Electronic Payments International
"Hong Kong's Monetary Authority recently released a report into its e-HKD pilot, and the results are promising."
Blockworks
"Eddie Yue, the CEO of Hong Kong’s central bank, expects that the mBridge CBDC project will gradually transition to commercialization. In a keynote speech at the 2023 Bund Summit, he detailed plans for the platform, which China, Thailand, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates are jointly developing in partnership with the Bank of International Settlements."
PR Newswire
"Today, UnionPay International (UPI) and Payments Network Malaysia Sdn Bhd, or PayNet, Malaysia's national payments network jointly signed an agreement in Shanghai to promote the cross-border QR code linkage and enable the full acceptance of the UnionPay App (Chinese-mainland, Hong Kong and Macao versions) and Chinese-mainland bank apps connected to the UnionPay App Network Payment Platform at the QR merchants in Malaysia."
PR Newswire
"Payment Asia, a leading payment solutions provider, has announced the launch of the first AI-powered comprehensive processing service, which includes automated merchant onboarding and assignment of merchant accounts, AI customer service, and an auto accounting system. This marks the first time such a comprehensive suite of automated services has been made available in Hong Kong together with AI development, taking merchants' sales to the next level....Payment Asia is also using ChatGPT, an AI natural language model, to embed in daily customer service, as a powerful tool to provide comprehensive answers in any field."