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Hong Kong launches e-HKD pilot programme, with 16 companies to test digital currency for public use in shops, restaurants
- Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, hosted a ceremony on Thursday evening to mark the start of an e-HKD pilot programme
- Some 16 banks and payment companies – including the three note-issuing banks HSBC, Standard Chartered and BOCHK – will take part in the trial
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Hong Kong has launched the trial run for a digital version of the local currency, called the e-HKD, paving the way for a virtual coin the public will be able to use to shop, dine out and make money transfers.
Some 16 banks and payment companies will select small groups of their clients to test six potential uses for the e-HKD – online payments, payments in shops and restaurants, collecting government payouts, tokenised deposits, tokenised asset settlement and Web3 trading and clearing, according to a statement by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).
Eddie Yue Wai-man, the CEO of the HKMA, hosted a ceremony on Thursday evening to mark the start of the e-HKD pilot programme at the de facto central bank’s office in Central.
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“The HKMA considers it the right time to explore a digital currency as residents have become more willing to use online banking services in recent years,” said Howard Lee, deputy CEO of the organisation, in a media briefing before the ceremony.
A crop of eight branchless, virtual banks has been operating in Hong Kong for the last three years, while the coronavirus pandemic reinforced the digital transition.
Hong Kong’s three note-issuing lenders, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of China (Hong Kong), will take part in the trial.
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