Supplier Payments and Bank Transfer Headaches: What is the zip code for Hong Kong?

Hong Kong doesn’t have a zip code.  But here is how to keep the banks happy.

It’s hard to believe, but Hong Kong doesn’t have a post code. There are only a few places in the world that don’t have one. You should poke fun at your local banker for not knowing the address of HSBC HK which is the home base for HSBC empire.   I have to explain it each time I go to the US post office to send express mail to China.  If you are interested in learning the history behind Hong Kong’s decision not to use a postal code/ zip code, then check out this interesting article: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2166239/youve-got-mail-no-postcode-why-hong-kong-does-not-use-such

The admin staff at your local bank may have a strict policy about needing the target bank’s zip code.  They don’t want to hear that Hong Kong doesn’t use a zip. They act like their whole computer system will crash or something, if you don’t fill in that one field!   Here is how to keep them happy:

999077 is the postal code that Beijing has assigned to Hong Kong for mail being sent from the mainland.    But when sending actual documents from USA, I never use 999077 as I didn’t want to take any risk that documents bound for HK could end up being first sent to the PRC then back over to HK.   That means there would be a higher chance of getting lost or opened.  And if you had content that was politically sensitive, that could be a real concern. 

Luckily, your bankers just want a zip code to fill in a field on their standard software and they are not looking to actually send anything in the mail.   So, feel free to use 999077!