Residents of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions had opened 235,000 accounts at Chinese mainland banks through cooperative banks in the SARs as of the end of January.

The accounts involved 15.71 million transactions with a combined value of 11.29 billion yuan ($1.62 billion), according to the Guangzhou branch of People's Bank of China, or the central bank. More than 70 percent of the transactions were made by mobile payment.

The branch launched the service in Hong Kong and Macao respectively in March and December 2019.

Permanent residents aged 18 or above in the SARs who have an account at a local cooperative bank can open an account at a mainland bank through the cooperating bank, without the need to travel to the mainland.

After an account is opened, the customer can receive a bank card issued by the mainland bank at the cooperative bank in either SAR and use the bank card services, including the mobile payment service.

In September last year, more banks were included in the program. They now cover 286 outlets in Hong Kong and 56 in Macao.