SWD: more flexibility for HK elderly subsidy recipients in mainland

The Social Welfare Department announced that Hong Kong elderly persons applying for or receiving portable cash assistance (including the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) under the Portable CSSA Scheme, and the Old Age Living Allowance and the Old Age Allowance under the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme of the Social Security Allowance Scheme) may, from today onwards, choose to receive their assistance payments in Hong Kong dollars (HKD) remitted by the SWD directly into their HKD accounts at designated Mainland banks free of charge.

The cross-border remittance service is a measure proposed in the 2025 Policy Address to improve disbursement arrangements for portable cash assistance.

A spokesman for the SWD added that the aforementioned designated Mainland bank accounts must be HKD accounts opened by the elderly recipients at the branches of the Bank of China or the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Guangdong Province or Fujian Province.

Elderly recipients who wish to apply for this cross-border remittance service should provide documentary proof of their accounts opened at designated Mainland banks during the application process.