Hong Kong launches personal e-CNY wallets for local users

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced Friday that users in Hong Kong can now set up personal e-CNY wallets for cross-border payments. The development is expected to broaden the usage of China’s central bank digital currency among Hong Kong residents.

According to the press release, the HKMA and the People’s Bank of China will facilitate Hong Kong users' setting up personal e-CNY wallets, which only require their Hong Kong mobile phone numbers.

The faster payment system (FPS) will facilitate the use of e-CNY wallets in Hong Kong. This system enables users to top up their wallets through 17 retail banks in the city. However, e-CNY wallets prioritize cross-border payments between Hong Kong and the mainland, and person-to-person transfers within Hong Kong are unavailable.

“Users may now top up their e-CNY wallets anytime, anywhere without having to open a Mainland bank account, thereby facilitating merchant payments in the Mainland by Hong Kong residents,” HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said in the press release. 

The latest development is part of the “three connection, three facilitation” initiative that the HKMA announced in January. This initiative aims to foster the financial ties between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

China has been actively working to popularize its pilot CBDC program, paying monthly salaries in e-CNY to groups of government workers and employees of state-owned enterprises. 

However, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported earlier this week that most people who receive their monthly pay in digital yuan are reluctant to use the CBDC directly due to privacy concerns and other limitations.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong is in its second-phase pilot program of its own CBDC, the e-HKD. The region has also launched a regulatory sandbox for stablecoins in March, aiming to promote communication between regulators and issuers interested in launching fiat-pegged stablecoins in Hong Kong.