The Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Monday said 11 groups of firms from different sectors will help it test offline and cross-border payments as part of the second phase of a pilot programme involving an e-Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD).

This follows a trial involving 16 companies last year.

The second phase, lasting a year, will again involve HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, but mobile wallet operator HKT Payment will be missing.

Construction firm Sanfield, China Mobile and Australia-based bank ANZ will be among those taking part for the first time.

At a press briefing, HKMA deputy chief executive Howard Lee said the second phase will focus on testing the efficiency in payments.

"During the first phase, the focus would be to examine what are the possible use cases where e-HKD can be used. But if it can be used, it does not necessarily mean that that would be a better option to the current electronic payment arrangements, like FPS or the e-wallets, or even the mobile banking," he said.

The HKMA and the participating companies will also test tokenised investment and foreign currency exchange using the e-Hong Kong dollar.