(Yicai Global) Feb. 5 -- The planned faster payment system in China's special administrative region Hong Kong, which goes live in September, will initially cover the Hong Kong dollar and the yuan.

After it begins, the system will connect banks and major payment agencies to provide users with real-time payments and settlements, Hong Kong-based online news outlet ET Net cited Li Dazhi, vice president of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as saying at a meeting today. The new mechanism will formulate unified QR code standards for different payment platforms.

HKMA President Chen Delin proposed the rapid payment system at the Hong Kong Banker's Summit in October. He believes that there needs to be a common standard to allow for cross-system transactions between payment service providers, including powerhouses Alipay under  Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat Pay, which command a collective 90 percent of the Chinese market.

There are 16 stored value facilities in Hong Kong, mostly payment agencies, but residents' payment habits mean local mobile payments make up a smaller portion of transactions than on the mainland, something that should change with the new system in place.