FPS, Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System (转数快), will connect to UnionPay International by the end of 2026, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on November 2 at Hong Kong FinTech Week. Customers of banking and e-wallet apps that support FPS will then be able to pay by scanning QR codes at merchants in UnionPay’s network and its partner networks.
The network spans Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and over 40 overseas markets. The HKMA chief fintech officer told RTHK that technical work with UnionPay is under way and that the order in which markets open will be announced in the coming months. The first phase is planned to cover Hong Kong, the mainland, Macao, Malaysia and South Korea, according to TVB News and Mobile Payment Network. Transaction limits and measures against QR code fraud will apply from launch.
Exchange rates and fees have not been set. Deputy Chief Executive Arthur Yuen (李達志) told TVB that people will only use the service if the rate is attractive and that the HKMA is pressing UnionPay for the best terms. FPS already links to Thailand’s PromptPay for QR payments, since December 2023, and to the mainland for remittances through Payment Connect (跨境支付通), since June 2025.
- Over 100 million merchants in the UnionPay and partner networks
- More than 22 million registered FPS users, according to TVB
Why it matters: A Hong Kong resident paying in a Shenzhen shop today needs a wallet such as AlipayHK or WeChat Pay HK, or a UnionPay card. The link lets that payment come straight from a bank account through any FPS app, which gives Hong Kong banks a share of outbound QR spending now handled by wallet operators. Pricing will decide take-up, as Arthur Yuen conceded, and the HKMA has yet to say which banks and wallets will join first.
Sources: 香港金融管理局 Hong Kong Monetary Authority, November 2, 2026; 香港電台 RTHK, November 2, 2026; 無綫新聞 TVB News, November 2, 2026; 移动支付网 Mobile Payment Network, November 2, 2026 (Chinese-language sources, translated)
Image: Shekoa Koo Chuam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
