The augmented reality banknote brought the story of HSBC to life in an unexpected way. Through the app, users were invited to explore the bank’s rich history in Hong Kong, see the growth and changing skyline of the city, and take a 3D tour of the bank’s four headquarters since 1865. The app also provided a direct link to an HSBC microsite from which users could apply for a physical HKD150 commemorative banknote.

Snaking queues out of the major branches in CauseWay Bay and MongKok were observed (all very civilized as you would expect in Hong Kong). Within 2 days of the note’s announcement, the HSBC anniversary app reached No.1 in the Hong Kong app store. Subscription to the commemorative banknote was heavily oversubscribed, receiving more than 8.75 million applications, with some special banknote sets being oversubscribed 65 times.