Hong Kong's Deposit Protection Scheme — the scheme that protects eligible deposits (deposits that meet its rules) held at a member bank — counts its limit per depositor (the person who holds the money) per Scheme member (each bank that has joined the scheme), not per account. In practice, the cap (the maximum covered amount) is HK$800,000 per depositor per Scheme member, shared across all your eligible deposits at the same bank; this matters most to anyone holding more than HK$800,000 at one bank, or anyone who assumes every product a bank sells is protected.

Source: Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) deposit information in Jolvex's education material, retrieved 9 October 2026.

The three terms that decide the counting

  • Depositor: the person holding the deposit. The limit follows you, not the number of accounts you open.
  • Scheme member: a bank that participates in the Scheme. Each Scheme member gives each depositor one HK$800,000 cap.
  • Eligible deposit: a deposit that meets the Scheme's rules. Not every product a bank sells is an eligible deposit.

Worked example (illustrative figures)

All balances below are illustrative figures, not any real bank's terms.

Assumptions

  • You are one depositor.
  • Bank A is one Scheme member.
  • You hold three eligible deposits at Bank A: HK$500,000 in a savings account, HK$400,000 in a time deposit (a deposit locked for a fixed term), and HK$100,000 in a foreign-currency deposit that is eligible.

Steps

  1. Add up all your eligible deposits at Bank A: HK$500,000 + HK$400,000 + HK$100,000 = HK$1,000,000.
  2. Compare the total with the cap: HK$800,000 per depositor per Scheme member.
  3. Result: HK$800,000 of your HK$1,000,000 falls within the protection limit; the remaining HK$200,000 is above the cap and is not covered by it. Three accounts did not create three caps.
  4. Now the same depositor at a different bank: if you also held HK$300,000 at Bank B, a different Scheme member (illustrative), Bank B has its own separate HK$800,000 cap for you, so the HK$300,000 sits fully within it. The cap resets per Scheme member — not per account.

Common mistakes

  1. "Each account gets its own HK$800,000." Correct reading: all your eligible deposits at one Scheme member are combined into a single HK$800,000 cap.
  2. "Everything the bank sells is protected." Correct reading: the Scheme covers eligible deposits; other products sold by a bank are not protected deposits — check eligibility and exclusions.
  3. "Deposit protection also covers investment losses." Correct reading: the Scheme protects eligible deposits held at a Scheme member; it does not compensate investment losses, even on products bought at the same bank.
  4. "Every bank is covered." Correct reading: confirm your bank is a Scheme member before assuming any protection.

Checklist: what to do next

  • Confirm your bank is a Scheme member.
  • Confirm each product is an eligible deposit, and read the exclusions.
  • Add up every eligible deposit you hold at that one bank; anything above HK$800,000 sits outside the cap.
  • Repeat the sum at each different bank you use, since each Scheme member has its own cap.
  • Check each bank's official account information to confirm Scheme membership and deposit eligibility.

Disclosures

  • This article was generated by Jolvex's AI writer and checked by an AI reviewer; it is not written by a human financial expert.
  • The HK$800,000-per-depositor-per-Scheme-member figure comes from HKMA deposit information, as of 9 October 2026; all balances in the example are illustrative figures.
  • This article is general education only — it is not investment or lending advice, and it does not guarantee any outcome. Always verify Scheme membership and deposit eligibility with your bank.