Mainland China, Hong Kong Cross-Boundary Payment Linkage

What the cross-boundary payment linkage is

In plain terms, it is plumbing. IBPS moves money between mainland bank accounts. FPS moves money between Hong Kong bank accounts. The linkage joins them so that a payment can travel from one side to the other without going through an international card network or a correspondent bank. That matters for speed and cost, but it does not create a new kind of money or a new set of rules about what you can spend it on.

The linkage is separate from the card networks you may already use. UnionPay, Visa and Mastercard move money across borders through their own rails. The linkage is a bank-to-bank connection between two domestic systems. If you have used FPS to send money to a friend in Hong Kong, or IBPS to send money within the mainland, the linkage is the bridge between those two experiences.

For anyone who moves between the mainland and Hong Kong, the practical effect is that a transfer can be made directly between the two systems rather than routed through an international network. The PBOC's Q&A is the starting point for understanding which banks are involved and how the connection is meant to work¹.

How the linkage works for mainland and Hong Kong users

The linkage works in both directions. A user on the mainland side initiates a payment through their bank, and the money arrives in a Hong Kong account through FPS. A user on the Hong Kong side initiates a payment through FPS, and the money arrives in a mainland account through IBPS. The PBOC's June 2025 Q&A named the first participating banks on both sides, which is the practical detail most people need: if your bank is not on the list, the linkage is not yet available to you¹.

For mainland users, the linkage sits alongside the existing rules on moving money out of the mainland. Those rules include annual foreign exchange quotas and the caps on card withdrawals described below. The linkage does not override them. It is a payment channel, and the same limits that apply to other cross-boundary payments apply here.

For Hong Kong users, the linkage is a way to send money to the mainland through FPS rather than through a card network or a remittance service. The Hong Kong Jockey Club's own rules illustrate how carefully Hong Kong treats cross-boundary betting money: the Club's internet betting facility is intended and provided for access and use only in Hong Kong, and the condition of connection and use is that the account holder complies with using the facilities only within Hong Kong⁵. That is a betting rule, not a payment rule, but it shows the general principle that Hong Kong-licensed services are meant to stay within Hong Kong.

If you are a visitor or an expat, the linkage is relevant to you mainly if you hold accounts on both sides. A mainland resident with a Hong Kong bank account, or a Hong Kong resident with a mainland account, is the typical user. A short-term visitor without accounts on both sides will not use the linkage directly.

Caps and limits: the RMB100,000 annual withdrawal cap

The cap that matters most for anyone moving money between the mainland and Hong Kong is the State Administration for Foreign Exchange (SAFE) annual cap on UnionPay overseas cash withdrawals. SAFE confirmed an annual cap of RMB100,000 per card, starting in 2016². The cap applies per card, which means a holder of two different UnionPay cards can withdraw as much as RMB200,000 per year overseas².

The daily cap is RMB10,000 per card. When SAFE announced the annual cap in September 2015, it also confirmed that UnionPay cards were subject to a cash withdrawal overseas cap of RMB10,000 per day². At the same time, a temporary cap of RMB50,000 per card was in place from September 30, 2015 until the end of that year².

The annual cap also applies to mainland China-issued Visa and Mastercard cards, not just UnionPay cards². That is a detail many people miss. If you hold a mainland-issued Visa or Mastercard and use it to withdraw cash overseas, the same RMB100,000 annual cap applies.

These caps are about cash withdrawals, not about card purchases. The linkage itself is a bank-to-bank payment channel, and the caps described here are the ones that apply to card cash withdrawals overseas. If you are moving money through the linkage, the relevant limits are the ones your bank applies to the transfer, plus the mainland's foreign exchange rules.

For a practical comparison of how these limits sit alongside other card rules, see Overseas ATM and Card Cash Withdrawal Limits for Gambling Trips and Foreign Exchange Controls and Gambling: Annual Quotas and Remittance Rules Across Asia.

Macau ATM restrictions for mainland bank cards

Macau is the one place in China where casino gambling is legal for Chinese nationals, and it is also the place where mainland bank cards face the tightest ATM rules⁷. If you hold a mainland China-issued UnionPay card and want to withdraw cash in Macau, the rules are specific.

The per-transaction limit was cut to MOP/HKD5,000 in December 2016, while daily and annual limits stayed unchanged⁴. So a single withdrawal at a Macau ATM cannot exceed MOP/HKD5,000, even if your daily or annual allowance would permit more. Separately, China prohibits its citizens from bringing more than $3,000 in cash across the border into Macau⁷.

The daily and annual limits that apply are the ones described above: RMB10,000 per day and RMB100,000 per card per year². Those limits apply to overseas withdrawals generally, and Macau is an overseas destination for this purpose.

The practical effect is that a mainland cardholder in Macau faces three layers of limits:

If you plan to withdraw cash in Macau, bring your ID, use a KYC-equipped ATM, and expect the per-transaction limit to apply each time.

For more on how these limits compare across the region, see RMB Carry Limit from China to Macau.

What the linkage does not cover

The linkage is a payment connection, not a gambling license. It does not make cross-border gambling legal, and it does not change the rules that apply to betting money.

Cross-border gambling is illegal under Chinese law.

• China's Ministry of Public Security has stated that participating in cross-border gambling, whether inside or outside the border, is a criminal and illegal act that public security organs will crack down on severely according to law⁸.
• The National Immigration Administration has stated that gambling abroad, online gambling, and providing funds or technical support for gambling all violate the Criminal Law and the Public Security Administration Punishment Law⁹.
• A mainland public security bureau has stated that cross-border gambling is strictly prohibited by Chinese law¹⁰.

In Hong Kong, betting with overseas-registered gambling websites is illegal. Even if gambling websites are registered overseas, as they are not licensed nor exempted in Hong Kong, betting with such sites is illegal⁷. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is the only authorized betting operator in Hong Kong, and its rules are specific about what it does and does not offer.

The Club provides cash betting and account-based betting only. No credit facilities or credit card betting is allowed¹¹. The Hong Kong government has confirmed that the Club shall not accept credit betting¹². The Club's internet betting facility is intended and provided for access and use only in Hong Kong⁵. Betting account and betting-related services are intended to be provided and used in Hong Kong only¹³.

The Club may also prescribe the frequency of withdrawals and the minimum and maximum amounts per transaction, per day and per period¹³. That means even within the Club's own system, withdrawal limits are set by the operator and can vary.

What the linkage does not cover, then, is anything to do with making gambling payments legal across the border. It is a payment channel between two banking systems. It does not authorize gambling, it does not bypass the caps on card withdrawals, and it does not change the Macau ATM rules. If you are moving money between the mainland and Hong Kong, the linkage is one option among several. If you are moving money to gamble, the rules that apply are the gambling rules, not the payment rules.

For a broader look at how payments work across the region, see Gambling Payments in Asia: Cards, Bank Transfers, E-Wallets, Crypto, Blocks and Withdrawals and Gambling Payments for Visitors and Expats: Home Cards, Local Accounts and Bank Terms.