HSBC Hong Kong Exchange Rate API: HKD Buy and Sell Rates as JSON

HSBC is one of Hong Kong’s three note-issuing banks. Its currency-rate page lists TT and bank-note buy/sell rates for about 12 currencies against the Hong Kong dollar, each with its own last-update 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 HSBC board shows

• 12 currencies against the Hong Kong dollar: AUD, CAD, CHF, CNY, EUR, GBP, JPY, NZD, PHP, SGD, THB and USD. 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: HSBC bought at 7.8132 and sold at 7.8778 HKD, a spread of 0.82%. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority official rate was 7.8455, so the bank's mid matched it.
• The bank's own timestamp. The page prints a last-updated stamp (2026-11-13 21:29:42 +0800 on the board above), returned as bank_updated_at next to our captured_at.
• Every day's board is kept permanently, from 20 October 2026. 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 (0.82%), CNY (1.21%), CHF (1.40%) and the widest PHP (3.65%), THB (3.28%), NZD (1.88%). 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 HSBC 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):

HSBC had the 3rd 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 works. The full board:

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

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

{
  "bank": "hsbchk",
  "name": "HSBC Hong Kong",
  "country": "hk",
  "quote_ccy": "HKD",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13 21:29:42 +0800",
  "basis": "TT buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:35:54.411Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"AUD","buy":5.2869,"sell":5.3644,"mid":5.32565,"spread_pct":1.455,"official":5.516,"vs_official_pct":-3.451},
    {"ccy":"CAD","buy":5.4606,"sell":5.5471,"mid":5.50385,"spread_pct":1.572,"official":5.613,"vs_official_pct":-1.945},
    {"ccy":"CHF","buy":9.2971,"sell":9.4284,"mid":9.36275,"spread_pct":1.402,"official":9.5095,"vs_official_pct":-1.543},
    … 9 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}

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

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

{
  "bank": "hsbchk",
  "name": "HSBC Hong Kong",
  "country": "hk",
  "quote_ccy": "HKD",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13 21:29:42 +0800",
  "basis": "TT buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:35:54.411Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 7.8132,
  "sell": 7.8778,
  "mid": 7.8455,
  "spread_pct": 0.823,
  "official": 7.8454999999999995,
  "vs_official_pct": 0,
  "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 HSBC Hong Kong on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://www.hsbc.com.hk/investments/products/foreign-exchange/currency-rate/",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/hk/hsbchk/",
    "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/hsbchk?date=2026-11-06" \
  -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/hsbchk/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-10-20&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' });

// HSBC Hong Kong's USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('hk', { bank: 'hsbchk', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`HSBC 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: 'hsbchk', date: '2026-11-06' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/hk/hsbchk",
    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. HSBC'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 when a rule asks for the official rate.

FAQ

Where do the HSBC Hong Kong rates come from?

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

Are these the official HKD exchange rates?

No. They are HSBC'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 HSBC 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 HSBC rates for a past date?

Yes, from 20 October 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.