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Miss Yip, 85, told the media that she would buy the 35-in-1 uncut banknotes for her personal collection. Photo: Nora Tam

HSBC HK$150 fever as speculators look to cash in on anniversary banknotes

Queues for application forms see branches open early, as some offer the as-yet unavailable issue for over triple the purchase price

HSBC

HSBC branches opened their doors early yesterday due to queues of people wanting to cash in on the bank's HK$150 anniversary banknotes - with some speculators already putting the notes up for sale on the mainland's biggest online shopping platform, even though they will not be ready for collection until June.

Staff at the Mong Kok branch opened the doors at 7.30am - 1-1/2 hours early - after finding people lined up outside to get the application forms.

The Sheung Shui Centre branch reportedly opened at 8am and queues were spotted at the Causeway Bay branch shortly after 9am. While forms are available in the bank's Hong Kong branches, where there are also drop-in boxes for completed applications, an HSBC spokeswoman yesterday encouraged people to apply online as it was faster and more convenient.

Two million of the notes are available and the deadline for applications is March 21. Customers can choose up to three single notes at HK$380 each, plus one set of 3-in-1 uncut notes at HK$1,380, plus one set of 35-in-1 uncut notes at HK$23,880. If the issue is oversubscribed a ballot will be held.

Customers pick up forms at HSBC's Mong Kok branch on Thursday morning. Photo: Nora Tam
Kelly Lam, a 46-year-old housewife, was ticking all three options. She was looking to double her money or keep the notes for herself. Lam bought commemorative HK$150 banknotes from Standard Chartered in 2009 and earned more than HK$2,000 when she sold them on. And she said she made a profit of HK$10,000 when she bought similar HK$100 notes marking the Bank of China's 100th anniversary in 2012.

"It's hard to say if you can make money from this," she said. "If I get the 35-in-1 set I'll definitely keep it."

One 65-year-old retiree picked up three application forms: for herself, her son and his wife. The woman, who came to Hong Kong from Shanghai about 30 years ago, said she would sell the single notes if she could get at least HK$600 for each one. But if she got the 3-in-1 set or the 35-in-1 set, she would keep it.

She said she made more than HK$3,000 from reselling the Bank of China notes. "I think I could make more this time, because HSBC is bigger than Bank of China," she added.

Retailers on the Taobao website were already accepting refundable payments in the hope they would secure some of the HSBC notes, charging up to 600 yuan (HK$742) for a single note to 68,000 yuan for a set of 35-in-1 uncut notes - about 3.5 times HSBC's price.

The bank's sudden popularity comes amid a Swiss tax-dodge scandal that has embroiled HSBC Group chief executive Stuart Gulliver personally. And that's just part of what chairman Douglas Flint is calling a "terrible list" of misdemeanours by the bank.

HSBC, whose profits from the sale go to charity, was unable to put a figure on the number of applications received yesterday.

Additional reporting by Lai Ying-kit

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Gold rush begins for HSBC HK$150 notes
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