Money flows through an economy like blood circulating within a human body: it must move smoothly, swiftly and without obstruction for the economy to work properly. Ensuring the smooth flow of money within Hong Kong is the job of Hong Kong's interbank payment system.

On an average business day around 307 billion Hong Kong dollars worth of transactions are settled through Hong Kong's interbank payment system. Every year, the total turnover through this system amounts to some 89 trillion dollars, which is equivalent to more than 70 times Hong Kong's annual gross domestic product.

The payment system processes the larger transactions between banks arising from the money and capital markets. It also handles smaller retail payment items, such as cheque and autopay transactions.

Since 1996, interbank fund transfers have been settled real time through the HKMA's Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system. This means that payment is processed continuously and that finality of settlement is instantaneous. The advantages are speed, efficiency and safety.

Hong Kong's RTGS system is one of the most advanced in the world and has proved itself to be 100% reliable and robust.