Send & Receive Payments in Hong Kong via CHATS with Echo Money

CHATS and FPS, the Faster Payment System, sit at opposite ends of Hong Kong's payment infrastructure despite both being operated by HKICL under HKMA oversight. CHATS is the large-value RTGS system, built for interbank settlement, securities transactions, and high-value business payments in Hong Kong dollars, US dollars, euros, or renminbi, without a practical ceiling on transfer size. FPS, launched in September 2018 as an extension of CHATS, is built for everyday retail transfers instead, letting individuals and businesses send smaller payments instantly, 24/7, using a phone number, email, or QR code rather than full account details, similar to PayNow in Singapore. In practice, a large B2B payment or property transaction runs through CHATS, while everyday customer payments typically run through FPS instead.

This multicurrency structure grew out of Hong Kong's role as an international financial center handling large volumes of cross-border business, not just domestic transactions. The Hong Kong dollar RTGS system launched first in 1996, and the US dollar, euro, and renminbi systems were added over the following years to let banks settle major foreign-currency transactions locally rather than routing them through correspondent banks overseas, reducing settlement risk and cost. The renminbi system in particular has grown in importance as Hong Kong developed into the leading offshore hub for clearing Chinese currency transactions outside mainland China. Because all four systems share common infrastructure under the same operator, HKICL, and regulator, HKMA, a business dealing in any of these currencies can settle locally rather than needing a separate system for each.

CHATS itself is designed for large-value interbank settlement, but it also plays a behind-the-scenes role in some retail payment infrastructure beyond big-ticket transfers. Apart from settling large-value payments directly, CHATS handles several daily bulk clearing runs for stock market transactions, cheques, and lower-value bulk items like EPS card payments and autopay direct debits, processed on a multilateral netting basis rather than the deal-by-deal settlement used for large transfers. That said, a typical consumer buying coffee isn't interacting with CHATS directly; those small transfers run through FPS, the retail-focused instant payment system built as an extension of CHATS in 2018. So while CHATS underpins parts of Hong Kong's broader clearing infrastructure, the name itself is generally associated with large, high-value, time-critical transfers rather than everyday retail payments.

Yes. Echo Money supports CHATS as one of its Hong Kong payout rails for high-value transfers, letting businesses send large payments in Hong Kong dollars or other CHATS-supported currencies without needing their own direct settlement relationship with HKICL. This is useful for large one-time payouts, such as property-related transactions or major supplier settlements, where the transfer size or the need for same-day finality goes beyond what a standard retail method is built for. Echo Money manages the underlying banking relationship and settlement process, confirming each transfer once it clears. Echo Money's CHATS coverage is payout-only, so it is not used to receive payments into Hong Kong.