HKT participates in eHKD Pilot Programme with healthcare, travel, education and e-commerce merchants

Completes ring-fenced payment test to provide input on use case

Under HKT, HKT Payment, participating recently as part of a cross-industry consortium in the e-HKD Pilot Programme of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), has invited innovative enterprises from different fields, including Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, Trip.com, Hong Kong Management Association, The Club and Club Travel [1] , to take part in the "tokenised property-backed secured lending with ring-fenced usage" use case to test the ring-fenced payment feature of the hypothetical e-HKD loan and provide input to the HKMA.

(Left to right) Felix Tsui, Chief Strategy Officer, Digital Ventures, HKT; Anthony Lam, Vice President, The Club, Digital Ventures, HKT; Terri Yang, Vice President, Loyalty and Strategic Business Development, Digital Ventures, HKT; Grace Wong, Director (Administration and Planning), Hong Kong Baptist Hospital; Monita Leung, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Ventures, HKT; Eddy Yip, Product & Marketing Director, Hong Kong and Taiwan & Territory Manager, Hong Kong, Trip.com; Titania Woo, Executive Director, Hong Kong Management Association; Heidi Chan, Alternate Chief Executive, HKT Payment Limited.

In the "tokenised property-backed secured lending with ring-fenced usage" use case, the user goes through a process involving different parties of the cross-industry consortium. The process includes tokenising a property belonging to the user and using the resulting token[s] to apply for a ring-fenced secured loan. Leveraging the programmability feature of the hypothetical e-HKD, the loan is then disbursed through HKT's hypothetical e-HKD wallet as payment to merchants in the designated fields of healthcare, travel, education and e-commerce.

Ring-fencing the hypothetical e-HKD loan in the use case may help improve credit assessment and provide the user with more personalised offers, benefitting consumers and merchants alike.

Monita Leung, CEO, Digital Ventures, HKT, said, "Consistently at the forefront of technology, HKT, through HKT Payment and HKT Merchant Services, has advocated the development of fintech and the digital economy by supporting the government's Consumption Voucher Scheme, the HKMA's Faster Payment System (FPS) and the recent e-HKD Pilot Programme. We strive to collaborate with members of different industries to embrace and apply fintech and explore more payment possibilities. In the event that the HKMA confirms the implementation of the e-HKD in future, HKT will be in a position to offer timely support for merchants and broaden the realm of e-HKD payment."

HKT Merchant Services is committed to providing merchants and small- and medium-sized enterprises with innovative one-stop payment services, including the Smart POS device which supports multiple mainstream payment acceptance methods and comprehensive FPS payment solutions.

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[1] The Club Travel Services Limited (Club Travel) is a licensed travel agency under HKT. (Licence number: 350873)