Skip to main content
Merkle Street

Protocols, markets, policy, people

HSBC launches RedCoin payments on PayMe

HSBC has launched its HKD stablecoin on PayMe, opening wallet activation to more than 3.3 million users for transfers and merchant payments in Hong Kong.

Merkle Street Newsroom#ab80483 min read

HSBC launches RedCoin payments on PayMe

HSBC launched RedCoin, its Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, on PayMe on 23 October, giving more than 3.3 million users access to in-app wallets for transfers and merchant payments. The bank says users will activate the wallets over the coming days. RedCoin carries the ticker RCHKD and is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. HSBC’s launch announcement says users will be able to send it to friends and family, or pay at more than 100,000 merchants through PayMe.

How will a PayMe user send RedCoin?

A user first activates a stablecoin wallet inside PayMe. They can then choose it to send RedCoin to another person or pay a merchant, according to HSBC. The transfer happens through PayMe’s app, so users do not need to leave it to make these payments.

South China Morning Post reported details from PayMe chief Lawrence Li: users can activate a wallet without a minimum balance or an additional account-opening step. After updating the app, they select the wallet and make instant transfers through an interface similar to PayMe’s existing one. The wallet works like a payment option within the app; the new part is that the payment uses HSBC’s HKD-denominated stablecoin.

Who issues RedCoin, and what has HSBC confirmed?

HSBC issues RedCoin under a stablecoin licence granted by the HKMA in April 2026. The launch announcement says HSBC Digital Assets Custody provides safekeeping for the coin. Before launch, nearly 100 HSBC staff tested the customer journey, from minting and wallet activation to live transfers.

HSBC’s announcement describes RedCoin as HKD-denominated and says it is subject to financial crime controls required by Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance. It does not give technical details of the payment network in the announcement. The confirmed user steps are wallet activation, selection of the wallet in PayMe, then a transfer to another person or payment to a merchant.

What does HSBC plan to add next?

HSBC plans to add RedCoin wallet functionality to its Hong Kong mobile banking app later this year. The bank also plans to let customers use RedCoin to subscribe to tokenised investment products, including a forthcoming share class of its HKD money market fund. HSBC says it intends to expand into wholesale corporate and institutional uses as well.

For now, the announced payment uses run through PayMe: person-to-person transfers and payments to merchants. The broader plan would connect the same stablecoin to investment subscriptions and additional banking channels, but those features are still planned rather than part of the launch.

Source material