---
title: "Hang Seng Bank Exchange Rate API: HKD Buy and Sell Rates as JSON"
description: "Hang Seng Bank's TT buy / sell rates for 12 currencies against the Hong Kong dollar, read hourly from the bank's own page and served as JSON with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rate alongside. REST, JavaScript and Python examples."
canonical: https://allratestoday.com/blog/hang-seng-bank-exchange-rate-api/
source: AllRatesToday (https://allratestoday.com/) — Markdown mirror of the page above; index of all pages at https://allratestoday.com/llms.txt
generated: 2026-11-13T18:12:17.755Z
---

Hang Seng Bank, founded in 1933 and part of the HSBC group, is one of Hong Kong’s largest local banks. Its telegraphic-transfer board covers about a dozen currencies against the Hong Kong dollar, with yen quoted per 1,000 units, and carries a last-updated time. This guide shows how to read that board as JSON: what the rates mean, how they compare with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rate and with other banks in Hong Kong, and the calls that return them.

## What the Hang Seng board shows

- **12 currencies against the Hong Kong dollar**: AUD, CAD, CHF, CNY, EUR, GBP, JPY, NZD, SGD, THB, USD and ZAR. Every value is HKD per 1 unit of the foreign currency.
- **The TT buy / sell pair.** The Hong Kong dollar trades in a 7.75–7.85 band against the US dollar under the Linked Exchange Rate System, so USD boards barely differ between banks; the spread that matters is on the other currencies. Banks publish telegraphic-transfer and bank-note boards; the pair here is TT. The HKMA does not publish a daily fixing for retail use.
- **USD on 13 November 2026**: Hang Seng bought at 7.822 and sold at 7.872 HKD, a spread of 0.64%. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rate was 7.8455, so the bank's mid sat +0.02% from it.
- **The bank's own timestamp.** The page prints a last-updated stamp (`2026-11-13T21:31:00+08:00` on the board above), returned as `bank_updated_at` next to our `captured_at`.
- **Every day's board is kept permanently, from 13 November 2026, the day collection started.** Read one past day with `?date=`, or a range for one currency with the `/history` endpoint (paid plans).

## Spreads across the board

On the 13 November 2026 board the tightest spreads were USD (0.64%), SGD (0.70%), CHF (1.34%) and the widest ZAR (6.69%), THB (6.17%), NZD (1.77%). Spread is (sell − buy) ÷ mid: what a round trip through the bank costs, before any fees. The API returns it on every row as `spread_pct`, so you can rank currencies or alert when a bank widens its board.

## USD at Hang Seng and other banks in Hong Kong

USD on the 3 boards AllRatesToday reads in Hong Kong, all captured on 13 November 2026 (the Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rate was 7.8455):

| Bank | Buy | Sell | Spread | Mid vs official |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HSBC Hong Kong | 7.8132 | 7.8778 | 0.82% | 0.00% |
| Bank of China (Hong Kong) | 7.8213 | 7.8715 | 0.64% | +0.01% |
| **Hang Seng Bank** | 7.822 | 7.872 | 0.64% | +0.02% |

Hang Seng had the narrowest USD spread of the 3. One call to `/api/v1/bank-rates/hk` returns every board in the table at once.

## Get the board (REST)

You need an API key; the [free key](https://allratestoday.com/register/) works. The full board:

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hangseng" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"
```

What comes back (the 13 November 2026 board, first three rows):

```
{
  "bank": "hangseng",
  "name": "Hang Seng Bank",
  "country": "hk",
  "quote_ccy": "HKD",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13T21:31:00+08:00",
  "basis": "TT buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:36:07.597Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"AUD","buy":5.288,"sell":5.368,"mid":5.328,"spread_pct":1.502,"official":5.516,"vs_official_pct":-3.408},
    {"ccy":"CAD","buy":5.462,"sell":5.547,"mid":5.5045,"spread_pct":1.544,"official":5.613,"vs_official_pct":-1.933},
    {"ccy":"CHF","buy":9.304,"sell":9.43,"mid":9.367,"spread_pct":1.345,"official":9.5095,"vs_official_pct":-1.499},
    … 9 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}
```

One currency, with the row fields at the top level:

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hangseng?ccy=USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"
```

```
{
  "bank": "hangseng",
  "name": "Hang Seng Bank",
  "country": "hk",
  "quote_ccy": "HKD",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13T21:31:00+08:00",
  "basis": "TT buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:36:07.597Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 7.822,
  "sell": 7.872,
  "mid": 7.847,
  "spread_pct": 0.637,
  "official": 7.8454999999999995,
  "vs_official_pct": 0.019,
  "disclaimer": "Retail buy/sell rates as displayed on each bank’s own website at capture time, quoted as home currency per 1 unit of foreign currency. Indicative only: banks change these through the day, apply them at the counter or in-app, and they are not official or reference rates. For the rate a regulation names, use the central-bank endpoints.",
  "attribution": {
    "source": "Board rates published by Hang Seng Bank on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://www.hangseng.com/en-hk/personal/banking/rates/foreign-exchange-rates/",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/hk/hangseng/",
    "terms": "Public pages that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com"
  }
}
```

The board as it stood on a past day:

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hangseng?date=2026-11-13" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"
```

One currency over a date range, one row per day (paid plans; add `&format=csv`, `xml` or `xlsx` for a file):

```
curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hangseng/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-11-13&to=2026-11-13" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"
```

## JavaScript

```
npm install @allratestoday/sdk
```

```
import { AllRatesToday } from '@allratestoday/sdk';

const client = new AllRatesToday({ apiKey: 'art_live_your_key' });

// Hang Seng Bank's USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('hk', { bank: 'hangseng', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`Hang Seng buys USD at ${r.buy}, sells at ${r.sell} HKD`);

// The board as it stood on a past day
const past = await client.bankRates('hk', { bank: 'hangseng', date: '2026-11-13' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);
```

## Python

```
import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hangseng",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer art_live_your_key"},
    timeout=10,
)
r.raise_for_status()
for row in r.json()["rates"]:
    print(row["ccy"], row["buy"], row["sell"], row["spread_pct"])
```

## Board rate or official rate?

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority rate is the one tax, accounting and customs rules in Hong Kong name; nobody transacts at it. Hang Seng's board is the price a customer actually gets. The API puts both on every row: `official` is the central bank's rate for the same currency and `vs_official_pct` is how far the bank's mid sits from it. Use the board to show customers a real price, compare banks for a remittance, or keep a dated record of what the bank quoted; use the [Hong Kong Monetary Authority endpoint](https://allratestoday.com/central-bank-rates-api/hkma/) when a rule asks for the official rate.

## FAQ

### Where do the Hang Seng Bank rates come from?

From the bank's own public rates page (https://www.hangseng.com/en-hk/personal/banking/rates/foreign-exchange-rates/), read hourly. AllRatesToday does not change the numbers: each row is the buy and sell price Hang Seng shows, with the mid, the spread and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority rate added.

### Are these the official HKD exchange rates?

No. They are Hang Seng's retail prices for customers. The official rate in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Monetary Authority rate, which the API returns as `official` on each row where the central bank has one, and in full from the central-bank endpoint.

### How often is the Hang Seng board updated?

AllRatesToday reads the page every hour. The bank's own last-updated stamp is returned as `bank_updated_at`, so you can tell a fresh read of an unchanged board from a new board.

### Can I get Hang Seng rates for a past date?

Yes, from 13 November 2026 onward; every day's board is kept permanently. Add `?date=YYYY-MM-DD` for one day: the response is the board captured that day, or the nearest earlier day within five days, with `date_requested` and `snapshot_date` added. For a range, `/history?ccy=USD&from=…&to=…` returns one row per day as JSON, CSV, XML or XLSX on paid plans.

### Do I need an API key?

Yes. Commercial bank boards need an API key; any plan works, the free key included, and each call counts against the plan. Public pages or widgets that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com.

## Hang Seng Bank rates, as JSON

Free API key, hourly board captures, the official rate alongside.

 [Get your free API key](https://allratestoday.com/register/)

## Related

- [Hang Seng Bank live board rates](https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/hk/hangseng/)
- [All banks in Hong Kong side by side](https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/hk/)
- [Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rates API](https://allratestoday.com/central-bank-rates-api/hkma/)
- [HSBC Hong Kong exchange rate API guide](https://allratestoday.com/blog/hsbc-hong-kong-exchange-rate-api/)
- [Bank of China (Hong Kong) exchange rate API guide](https://allratestoday.com/blog/bank-of-china-hong-kong-exchange-rate-api/)
- [Commercial bank rates API: every bank and country](https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/)