HSBC bets on retail base to drive stablecoin adoption

RedCoin is rolling out in the PayMe app that is used by 3.3 million users and 100,000 merchants.

HSBC’s retail franchise is expected to help accelerate the adoption of its stablecoin RedCoin in the market.

“Integration with the bank’s payment app PayMe ensures a retail base for adoption of RedCoin,” said S&P Global Ratings on 26 October 2026.

On 23 October, HSBC announced the launch of HSBC RedCoin, integrated directly into its PayMe platform. This allows the 3.3 million users to pay using RedCoin to over 100,000 merchants. Users can also make instant peer-to-peer transfers using the stablecoin.

"HBAP will drive early stablecoin adoption through its retail scale," said Phylis Liu, a credit analyst at S&P Global Ratings. "Integrating RedCoin directly into PayMe helps overcome customer acquisition challenges."

S&P expects tokenisation to become a new growth engine for HSBC’s wealth management franchise.

HSBC plans to add stablecoin wallet functionality to its mobile banking app, as well as enable subscriptions to tokenised investment products using RedCoin later in 2026.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin bill, passed in May 2025, was expected to raise the bar for transparency and compliance in the city’s digital asset space, analysts earlier told Asian Banking & Finance.

Banks, meanwhile, were expected to reassess their exposure to stablecoins and review ties with third-party providers to avoid unintentional noncompliance.