How Hong Kong’s currency exchange shops have become a dying breed

Currency exchange shops, once a ubiquitous feature of Hong Kong’s retail landscape, are in a gradual, irreversible decline, with their closure precipitated by the pandemic, stricter licensing regulations and adoption of an array of convenient digital payment systems.

The number of registered currency exchange shops in the city has more than halved to around 1,050 from a peak of nearly 2,500 in 2018, before the social unrest and border closures brought tourism to a standstill for three years, according to data from the city’s customs department.

The declining popularity of currency exchange shops can be gleaned from the record-high leasing rates more than a decade ago, at a time when Hong Kong’s retail property was booming.

Benetrition Trading leased 120 sq ft in two adjoining units – unit A1 of 50 sq ft and unit B of 70 sq ft – in Causeway Bay’s Cannon Street in May 2014 for HK$265,000 per month (US$34,090), according to data from the Land Registry. Another company leased the adjacent unit A2 of 50 sq ft to operate a currency shop the same year for HK$260,000, which was widely reported by the local media, although details could not be found in the Land Registry.

In March this year, units A1 and A2, totalling 100 sq ft, were leased by another tenant for HK$132,000 per month.

“At the time, the shop held the world record in terms of rent on a per square foot basis,” said Rickey Chan Chi-po, the managing director of Dorbo Realty, who helped broker the deal.