Banking new year joy with crisp notes

Residents queued on Tuesday at the branches of HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) to exchange for new banknotes as the Lunar New Year approaches.

The three banks will open at 8 am from today through Thursday (Jan 16), with the first hour exclusively dedicated to the banknote exchange service.

Around 7 am this morning, over 50 citizens have already lined up at the Mong Kok branch of HSBC, many of whom were elderly. The bank then opened earlier at 7.30 am to allow them to exchange banknotes.

A resident surnamed Lai stated that she completed the exchange in less than half an hour, noting that the process was very smooth, with clear guidance on-site.

It is reported that additional quotas will be distributed on-site at the branches of HSBC due to full online reservations, while the number of new banknotes prepared this year has slightly increased compared to previous years.