Use of yuan hits 6-month high in Hong Kong’s fast-payment system

Yuan-denominated payments rise 34 per cent, with Payment Connect mechanism acting as catalyst for multiplying cross-border use cases

Transaction values through Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System (FPS) for yuan reached 350.3 billion yuan (US$60 billion) in July, marking a 34 per cent increase from February, according to official data published by Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Ltd (HKICL) on Tuesday.

By directly linking Hong Kong’s FPS with mainland China’s internet banking payment system, the channel enables instantaneous, small-value cross-border transfers. Usage has increasingly expanded into everyday retail transactions, including university tuition, medical expenses and cross-boundary salary remittances.

“The rise in renminbi FPS transactions reflects a broader structural trend of growing renminbi payment demand, and Payment Connect is an additional catalyst by expanding cross-border use cases,” said Gary Ng, senior economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank.

The growth was also “partially due to the ongoing migration of payment infrastructure” towards the FPS system, he added.