Hong Kong banks report decline in customers seeking new notes for ‘lai see’ amid rise of electronic channels, economic uncertainties
There is a major push to get people to give ‘lai see’ electronically, as Hong Kong’s coronavirus outbreak has not yet been brought under control
HSBC is encouraging customers to use PayMe or FPS, but will provide new notes and festive ‘lai see’ envelopes to those without access to digital channels
Editor-at-Large
The US federal government has offered loans to states to help them through the COVID-19 crisis and the state of California is now the first state to access those funds.
California borrowed the first tranche of funds this week when it pulled down $348 million to help cover unexpectedly high unemployment benefit payments to more than 3.7 million displaced workers, and the state could access up to $10 billion of loans through July. The state began the year with over $3.1 billion in its unemployment insurance trust fund but has already distributed more than $1.2 billion to unemployed workers.
But other states are also preparing to access federal loans after Illinois was approved for up to $12.6 billion and Connecticut was approved for up to $1.1 billion in loans.