Digital wallets are on track to become the dominant payment method in Hong Kong by 2030, accounting for nearly half of all online and in-store transactions, marking a significant shift away from traditional credit card payments, according to a new report. Digital wallets – typically smartphone-enabled payment systems run by technology companies such as Google…
An e-commerce industry leader has suggested that Hong Kong should consider allowing a popular quick payment operator to arbitrate online transactions amid the rising trend of internet shopping scams, while also urging buyers not to use bank accounts for purchases. The statement comes after police earlier revealed that the amount of money lost by Hongkongers…
Hong Kong’s newly appointed police chief has pledged to step up international cooperation to tackle the low detection rate of rampant scam cases, while strengthening local tools to protect residents from fraud. Commissioner of Police Joe Chow Yat-ming, who assumed the top job on April 1, added that the force would not ban all protests…
Hong Kong’s currency has strengthened to its strongest level in four years against the US dollar, driven by the demand from mainland China’s stock buyers who are dipping into one of the world’s cheapest major capital markets through the Stock Connect scheme. The local dollar changed hands at 7.7595 for every US$1 on Thursday morning,…
Euroclear has joined Project Ensemble, the wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) initiative from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). The project explores using wCBDC for the settlement of tokenization transactions and for interbank settlement of tokenized deposits. Euroclear becomes a member of the Architecture Community and is the sole financial market infrastructure (FMI) community…
More than 70 per cent of executives in Hong Kong expect an increase in financial crime in 2025, while only 18 per cent believe their organisation’s compliance programme is “very effective”, according a report from Kroll, a financial and risk advisory firm. The report, released Monday, surveyed more than 600 respondents worldwide between September and…
Hong Kong faces an unprecedented opportunity as an offshore hub for the currency, despite what is broadly seen as short-term pressure on the yuan, according to investment bank China International Capital Corporation (CICC). In the past, depreciation was largely driven by a wide interest rate differential between the US dollar and the yuan, which prompted…
Approved mortgage loans in Hong Kong rose to a nine-month high in February as buyers of new flats sought additional financing, suggesting an improvement in demand as developers continued to launch new projects at attractive prices, analysts said. Financial institutions approved mortgage loan applications worth HK$26.1 billion (US$3.3 billion), the highest since HK$31.6 billion in…
Home prices in Hong Kong’s secondary property market dropped for a third straight month in February to near the lowest in a decade amid concerns about slower cuts in interest rates and heightened tensions in global trade stoked by extra US tariffs on foreign goods. Lived-in home prices retreated 0.9 per cent in February from…
Hong Kong retained its status as Asia’s top financial centre and was the third globally, distancing itself from regional rival Singapore and also closing the gap with top-ranked New York, according to the latest edition of the Global Financial Centres Index. Hong Kong’s overall rating increased 11 points, while Singapore gained three points to stay…