HSBC (0005) announced that its first stablecoin, “HSBC RedCoin,” is available from Friday on PayMe, benefiting more than 3.3 million PayMe users from the launch to pay friends and merchants.
HSBC also plans to add stablecoin wallet functionality to the HSBC HK Mobile Banking App later this year, enabling customers to subscribe to tokenized investment products, which include a soon-to-be-launched share class of HSBC’s long-running HKD money market fund.
According to HSBC, the “HSBC RedCoin” is designed to be redeemable 1:1 for Hong Kong dollars.
John O’Neill, managing director of digital assets and currencies at HSBC, said the bank will soon add more products, including expanding into wholesale corporate and institutional use cases.
PayMe users will be able to activate a stablecoin wallet in-app and use it for peer-to-peer payments, sending stablecoins instantly to friends and family through PayMe, as well as peer-to-merchant payments, paying directly with stablecoins at more than 100,000 merchants through PayMe.
To celebrate the launch, HSBC said it will offer exclusive PayMe transaction discounts, alongside RewardCash. Meanwhile, HSBC Digital Assets Custody provides safekeeping services for HSBC RedCoin.
HSBC said in recent months, it has worked closely with regulators and prospective users ahead of the launch, with staff pilots of nearly 100 users testing the full customer journey, from minting and wallet activation to live transfers.
