Hong Kong: HKMA Unveils Fintech Initiatives at FinTech Week, Faster Payment System to Link UnionPay by Year-End
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) of China issued a statement on November 2, as Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026 opened, unveiling a set of initiatives spanning agentic super intelligence (SI), post-quantum cryptography, tokenised settlement and cross-border payments. The HKMA co-organised the 11th edition of Hong Kong FinTech Week with Invest Hong Kong, bringing together participants from around the world to exchange insights, showcase innovation and foster business partnerships.
On agentic finance, the HKMA launched Project SAGE, or Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement, to support the industry's exploration of agentic finance applications while establishing a governance framework. It also set up a cross-sectoral Agentic Finance Expert Group and published a discussion paper on the use of agentic SI by banks, seeking industry feedback on supervisory considerations for governance.
To prepare the banking sector for the quantum era, the HKMA and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, with support from industry participants, launched a PQC Toolkit for post-quantum cryptography, designed to provide a structured framework and practical tools to guide banks through their transition to PQC, and which will continue to evolve as standards and implementation practices mature.
On tokenised finance, the HKMA said it has advanced Ensemble TX to a new stage, enabling 24/7 real-value transactions, intended to support dynamic global allocation of funds, management of tokenised asset portfolios and treasury operations. It has completed trial trades involving Recognised Dealers conducting secondary market transactions in tokenised Exchange Fund Bills, and will soon expand the trials to regulated stablecoins. In partnership with Cyberport, the HKMA also launched tConnect Launchpad to connect financial institutions, technology firms and digital asset innovators. On payments, the Faster Payment System will link with UnionPay International by the end of this year, progressively allowing users to pay by scanning QR codes at more than 100 million merchants across Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and more than 40 overseas markets. HKMA Chief Executive Eddie Yue said Hong Kong is well placed to capitalise on new growth opportunities in fintech, and that banks and fintech firms can better harness data, SI and tokenisation under the city's Fintech 2030 strategy. The announcements build on the four strategic pillars of the HKMA's DART framework: Data and Payment, Super Intelligence, Resilience and Tokenisation.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：中国香港维多利亚港高楼群，Wilfredor 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC0 授权 / Photo: Victoria Harbour skyscrapers in Hong Kong, China, by Wilfredor, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
