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Making Payments

What is the difference between Payments and Fund Transfers?
Payments:
The Payments service enables you to submit payments to selected service providers in Hong Kong.There are five types of online Payment services, each with their own transaction limit:

Bill payment type
Maximum daily sub- limit
Applicable Channel(s)
eIPO (i.e. online payments for shares purchased as part of an Initial Public Offering)
HKD$5,000,000
Internet Banking
Government and Utilities
HKD$500,000
Internet Banking, Phonebanking, and ATM
Securities Brokers
HKD$500,000
Internet Banking, Phonebanking, and ATM
Sports and Leisure
HKD$500,000
Internet Banking, Phonebanking, and ATM
Other Merchants (e.g. telecommunications, insurance companies)
HKD$100,000
Internet Banking, Phonebanking, and ATM

In addition to the daily sub-limits for each merchant category as stated in the above table, you can gain better control over merchant payments with a daily master limit of HKD$5,000,000 per customer for merchant payments across all automated banking channels (i.e. Internet Banking, Phonebanking and ATM).

Fund Transfers:
The online Fund Transfers service is a facility to transfer money within your own HSBC accounts, to other HSBC accounts or to accounts with other bank, both in Hong Kong and overseas.

Types of transfers
Maximum daily sub-limit
Transfers to self-name accounts
HKD999,999,999 per customer^
Transfer to registered accounts
HKD3,000,000 per account
Transfer to non-registered accounts*
HKD 400,000 for transfer via Personal Internet Banking/ local ATM#
HKD 50,000 for transfer via phone banking/ overseas ATM#

In addition to the daily sub-limits as stated in the above table, there is a daily master limit of HKD$400,000 per customer* for transfers to non-registered third party accounts using the three automated banking channels.

Service charges may apply to certain fund transfers and you may refer to the "Service Fees" section under "Frequently Asked Questions" for full details.

* This new limit structure does not apply to sole proprietors hips. For enquiries, please call (852) 2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers, (852) 2233 3000 for Other Personal Banking customers.
^ The maximum daily limit for transfers among your self-named accounts is up to the available balance in your account.
# For ATM service, we consider, as existing practice, any accounts not linked to your ATM card is considered to be non-registered third party accounts.

For Fund Transfers made to other banks or overseas, what are the maximum number of characters allowed in the beneficiary fields?
The followings are the maximum numbers of characters (including spaces) allowed per field:
  e-Transfer Express Transfer Overseas Transfer
Beneficiary a/c no. 12 digits 13 digits 34 digits or characters
Beneficiary name 20 characters 35 characters 35 characters
Beneficiary address Not applicable Not applicable 3 lines with 35 characters per line
Message to beneficiary Not applicable 4 lines with 35 characters per line 4 lines with 35 characters per line
Message to beneficiary bank Not applicable Not applicable 2 lines with 30 characters per line

When should I use the Payments facility versus the Fund Transfer facility?
If you are sending money to a company in Hong Kong as payment for services provided to you, we recommend you to check the Merchant List under the 'View and Pay Bills' Banking option. If the company is listed as a merchant, use the 'Pay Bill' service to submit your payment; this way the merchant will be able to readily identify who has made the payment it is linked to your individual account number with that merchant. If you wish to send money to a company that is not listed under the Merchant List, or to another individual, you should either use the online 'Transfers - Hong Kong' or 'Transfers - Overseas' banking services.

Is there a charge for making payments online?
No. The service is free.

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