'People will love it': Hong Kong banks to launch e-cheque system in December
HKMA boss Norman Chan hails new online payment method backed by nine banks that will allow 'easy and simple' cash transfers
From December, Hong Kong residents will be able to send electronic cheques through their phones or other internet devices to settle bills, transfer money or even give away lai see, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam.
In a move to spur e-commerce and innovation, nine banks, which between them handle 70 per cent of the cheques in the city, will join the HKMA scheme, while another nine will join at a later stage.
"People can use e-cheques to make all types of payments or even give lai see during the Lunar New Year," said the chief of the city's de facto central bank. "They work the same way as traditional cheques, but without using paper."
On average, 450,000 cheques are issued every day.
Those who want to issue e-cheques can simply use their mobile phones or internet banking accounts to generate a cheque in an electronic format and send the image to the receiver, who can then present it to the participating banks to collect the money.
Chan said the settlement procedures and the time required to clear e-cheques would be no different from those for paper cheques. A cheque presented to a bank in the morning will be settled and cleared by the bank the same night and the payment made to the receiver the following day.