HSBC began introducing its Hong Kong dollar stablecoin, RedCoin (RCHKD), through PayMe on October 23. The bank's launch announcement describes wallet activation over the following days, with payments available first and a separate banking-app wallet planned for later in 2026.
The initial distribution is through an existing payment application. HSBC says eligible PayMe users can activate a stablecoin wallet for transfers to other users and payments to merchants. Its product FAQ says a merchant that accepts PayMe can accept a payment from a user's RedCoin balance without requiring the customer to identify a separate stablecoin acceptance option.
The boundary between applications matters. In the current product documentation, reviewed on October 26, HSBC still labels the HSBC HK App wallet as coming soon. The FAQ describes the PayMe and banking-app wallets as separate and says RedCoin transfers between those wallets will not be supported. A token carrying the same name therefore does not establish a shared balance or a transfer route between the two applications.
HSBC says RedCoin is created and moved by smart contracts on its own distributed-ledger network. Its official distribution notice names PayMe and the forthcoming HSBC HK App, and says the stablecoin is not offered through third-party platforms. The rollout does not announce exchange listings or an external-wallet transfer route.
Tokenized investment subscriptions are another planned stage, rather than part of the initial payment launch. HSBC says these are intended for the banking app later this year; its current product page continues to mark that functionality as forthcoming.
The HKMA register lists HSBC's issuer licence FRS02 as effective April 10, 2026. That earlier licence date is separate from the October payment rollout. The launch establishes a new distribution channel for RCHKD, while activation, cross-app access and future services remain distinct questions.