HSBC Rolls Out Red Coin Through PayMe to More Than 3.3 Million Hong Kong Users
Key Facts
HSBC announced on Oct. 23, 2026, that its first stablecoin, Red Coin, ticker RCHKD, was available through the PayMe app in Hong Kong, setting the stage for competition among banks to bring regulated digital money into everyday payments. The coin is denominated in Hong Kong dollars and licensed by the city's monetary authority. The bank said the service was available through PayMe, but user wallet activation would take place in stages over the days following the announcement. Under the plan, more than 3.3 million users will be able to activate a wallet in the app. This will allow them to transfer money instantly to friends and family, as well as pay across the network of merchants connected to PayMe.
HSBC said Red Coin payments would include direct transactions with more than 100,000 merchants through PayMe, linking the digital currency to an established payment channel rather than limiting it to transfers between holders. The phased wallet activation means the eligible user base will not all become active users on the day of the announcement. The bank said the rollout followed an internal test involving about 100 employees before launch. The test, according to HSBC, covered the customer journey from creating the coin and activating a wallet to making live transfers. The test offers a picture of the service's operational readiness before it is expanded to PayMe users.
HSBC's move coincides with a parallel effort by Anchorpoint, the stablecoin issuance joint venture led by Standard Chartered, which said it plans a retail product operating on a public blockchain. Anchorpoint did not specify a launch date for the product. Its Chief Executive Dominic Maffei said bringing the coin into retail use requires consideration of many factors, indicating that the expansion plan remains cautious. Maffei described the company's next major milestone as "helping bring regulated digital money into everyday payments and commercial applications." He also tied the goal to building bridges between traditional infrastructure and emerging digital finance.
Licensing data point to a regulated market with limited entry so far. Hong Kong's licensing regime for issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins began on Aug. 1, 2025, making issuance a regulated activity requiring a license from the Monetary Authority. The Hong Kong government said the authority received 36 applications in the initial round before granting two licenses in April 2026 to HSBC and Anchorpoint. The authority's register shows Anchorpoint's license as FRS01, while HSBC holds license FRS02, with both licenses effective from April 10, 2026. The government said the number of additional licenses, if any are issued, would remain very limited, taking into account actual demand and the market's response to the licensed entities' operations.
Anchorpoint is already taking a phased approach to launching its HKDAP coin, which began a pilot rollout to approved distributors and their non-retail users. The company is targeting a full launch as soon as the end of 2026, with timing dependent on the readiness of infrastructure needed for broad adoption. During the pilot phase, access and transfers are limited to non-retail users through selected distributors. A full launch, according to the company, will open access, holding and use of the coin to all user groups, including individuals. Anchorpoint's transparency page showed cumulative transactions of 35,099,666 Hong Kong dollars and a circulating supply of 6,106,921 dollars on Oct. 21, 2026; the company publishes these as operating figures.
HSBC plans to add a stablecoin wallet function to its HSBC HK banking app during the year and also intends to enable customers to subscribe through Red Coin to tokenized investment products. The examples cited by the bank include a share class of a Hong Kong dollar-denominated money market fund. These plans broaden the proposed uses from transfers and payments to access to digital investment products. A survey published by HSBC on Sept. 30 showed that 74% of participants knew at least one use case for stablecoins. Some 62% said regulatory clarity builds confidence, while 55% pointed to the role of education; the bank presented these findings as background to the coin's announcement.
In trading, HSBC shares closed at 90.68 dollars a share on Oct. 23, compared with 92.96 dollars on Oct. 19, according to EL7 data. Standard Chartered shares, listed under ticker SCBFY, closed at 52.33 dollars on Oct. 23, compared with a close of 55.19 dollars on Oct. 19. These prices put the two stocks' moves in the context of the announcement period, but on their own do not establish the effect of the stablecoin launches on trading. HSBC's next step is to expand wallet activation, then add wallet and tokenized investment functions to its banking app during the year. Anchorpoint is targeting a full launch of HKDAP as soon as the end of 2026, following its pilot phase.