HSBC launches RedCoin stablecoin on PayMe in Hong Kong

HSBC has launched RedCoin, its first Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, on PayMe, opening a new way to send money to friends and pay merchants for more than 3.3 million app users. The bank said in its launch announcement that RedCoin is licensed by Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority and carries the ticker RCHKD.

A stablecoin is a digital token tied to a currency. HSBC says users will be able to activate a RedCoin wallet inside PayMe in the coming days. The bank says it is designed for everyday payments, with transfers between people and payments to more than 100,000 merchants through the app.

What can PayMe users do with RedCoin?

At launch, users can use RedCoin for peer-to-peer transfers and payments to merchants, according to HSBC. The bank says the transfers will be instant. The South China Morning Post reported that users can activate the wallet without a minimum balance or opening an additional account, and select it in the app to make transfers.

HSBC said it tested the customer journey with nearly 100 staff, including wallet activation and live transfers. The announcement did not set out how users can move RedCoin outside PayMe or provide details of fees, so those points are not clear from the launch information.

What is HSBC planning after the PayMe launch?

HSBC says it plans to add RedCoin wallet access to its Hong Kong mobile banking app later this year. It also plans to let customers use RedCoin to subscribe to tokenised investment products, including a planned share class of the bank’s Hong Kong dollar money market fund. Tokenised products represent investments in digital form.

The bank has also said it plans to expand RedCoin to wholesale corporate and institutional uses. Those are future plans; the launch announcement describes PayMe payments as the current use. HSBC says its Digital Assets Custody service will safeguard RedCoin.

The rollout puts a bank-issued digital payment option inside an app already used by millions of people in Hong Kong. The bank says its stablecoin issuer licence was granted by the Monetary Authority in April 2026. RedCoin is denominated in Hong Kong dollars, but the launch announcement does not explain its redemption process.

Sources and documents

• launch announcement — about.hsbc.com.hk