With the full reopening between the mainland and Hong Kong, many mainland tourists are heading to Hong Kong to open bank accounts. I believe that one should apply for a bank account based on their actual needs, and not blindly follow the trend of opening accounts in Hong Kong. Some netizens have found that the Hong Kong accounts they opened do not meet their business needs and end up gathering dust in a drawer. If the deposit amount does not meet the standard, they also have to pay account management fees. In fact, if there is no special purpose and only light usage is needed, registering for a digital bank in Hong Kong is also a good choice, as the cost of account maintenance is almost negligible and it eliminates the hassle of making appointments and waiting in line.
As of February 28, 2023, there are 8 digital banks, also known as virtual banks, in Hong Kong: Ant Bank, Pao Bank, Mox Bank, Airstar Bank, Fusion Bank, WeLab Bank, ZA Bank, and Livi Bank. According to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's guidelines on "Recognition of Virtual Banks," "virtual banks should not set minimum account balance requirements or charge for low account balances," and "must comply with the same set of regulatory requirements applicable to traditional banks."
Among the above-mentioned digital banks in Hong Kong, currently only ZA Bank and Livi Bank support account opening for tourists with mainland identity, while the others require a Hong Kong resident ID. The process of opening an account with a digital bank is quite convenient: download the app, fill in the information step by step, and upload various identification documents to complete the process. The registration process is so simple that I won't demonstrate it in detail. I opened accounts with these two banks during this trip to Hong Kong, and the following table provides a simple comparison.
| ZA Bank | Livi Bank | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Entity | ZA Bank Limited | Livi Bank Limited | As of June 30, 2022, ZA Bank leads in deposits, loans, and user numbers among virtual banks |
| Major Shareholders | ZhongAn Online, Baishida Group | Bank of China Hong Kong (Holdings), JD Technology, Jardine Matheson | |
| License Held | Virtual Bank License + Insurance Agency License | Virtual Bank License + Insurance Agency License | |
| Account Opening Preparation, Process | Physical presence and mobile location in Hong Kong, +86 mobile number, Hong Kong and Macao travel permit, mainland ID, bind mainland bank card number, face recognition, fill in relevant information, account opening completed in about 2 days | Physical presence and mobile location in Hong Kong, +86 mobile number, mainland ID, Hong Kong and Macao travel permit, upload entry and exit record PDF file, fill in relevant information, account opening completed in about 2 days | The entry and exit record PDF file can be registered and downloaded in the "Immigration Bureau App" or sent to an email. Both banks do not require proof of address in mainland China. |
| Debit Card | Initially a Visa virtual card, supports custom last 6 digits. Physical card can be applied for, shipped via EMS, received in about 3 days, virtual card automatically disappears after activating the physical card. Daily payment limit of 50,000 HKD. | Only a Mastercard virtual card. Daily spending/withdrawal limit of 50,000 HKD, monthly spending limit of 1,000,000 HKD. HKD settlement, foreign currency transactions incur a 1.9% fee. | Highlight: The ZA Bank debit card only prints the cardholder's name and card number on the back, with no expiration date or security code, effectively reducing the chance of card theft. |
| Cashback | None | 1% cashback on every transaction | |
| ATM Withdrawals | Card insertion for cash withdrawal | QR code scanning for cardless cash withdrawal, no fees for cash withdrawal within Hong Kong | |
| FPS Transfer | Supported | Supported | Livi Bank does not provide a digital ID for FPS, must use email or mobile number to register for FPS. |
| Deposit Currencies | HKD, RMB, USD | HKD, RMB, USD | |
| Deposit Methods | Easy Deposit, FPS, account number, cross-border remittance | eDDA deposit, FPS, account number, cross-border transfer from mainland bank | "Easy Deposit" and "eDDA" are the same thing, i.e., "Electronic Direct Debit Authorization," which can be directly linked to other bank accounts under one's name for transfer operations, eliminating the need to input bank details each time. |
| Transfer Function | Besides local transfers, can also use Wise for overseas remittance | Local transfers / remittance to mainland | |
| Credit Card Repayment Function | Supported | Supported | |
| Time Deposit and Interest Rates | 12-month HKD time deposit annual interest rate of 3.31%; 12-month RMB time deposit interest rate of 1.5%; 12-month USD time deposit interest rate of 0.2%; minimum deposit amount of 1 yuan | 12-month HKD time deposit annual interest rate of 2.4% (amount 500—200,000); 12-month HKD time deposit annual interest rate of 3.5% (amount over 200,000) | Data as of March 18, 2023 |
| Deposit Protection | Member of the Deposit Protection Scheme, each depositor is protected for 500,000 HKD | Member of the Deposit Protection Scheme, each depositor is protected for 500,000 HKD | |
| Mainland Consumption | No such function | Has UnionPay QR code function, can scan for consumption at mainland UnionPay merchants, supports both scanning and being scanned | |
| Commercial Bank Account | Yes | Yes | Account holder must have a Hong Kong company entity, be the actual owner, director, or ultimate controller of the company, and hold a Hong Kong ID. |
During the registration process, the operation process of ZA Bank was quite smooth and seamless, while Livi Bank encountered several network errors along the way. I used the "Samsung Connect" overseas data service built into my Samsung phone, with virtual SIM technology, and the daily data package in Hong Kong was only 8.8 yuan (first 10G high-speed data, followed by unlimited low-speed data). Later, I switched to using the free Wi-Fi at the subway station to complete the process, which may be related. All retail banks and virtual banks have a case review mechanism for account opening. If the account opening fails due to various issues, one can call the bank to request a re-examination of the application.
Both of the above digital banks are personal accounts, and they are not suitable for commercial nature payments for cross-border e-commerce business. Those with conditions can register for their commercial accounts.
In July 2023, after WeChat Pay announced the full opening of binding overseas cards, the Mastercard and Visa cards in Hong Kong could be smoothly bound to WeChat Wallet for daily consumption. However, in early August, when trying to bind an overseas card again, a prompt appeared stating, "Users with mainland China ID are temporarily not supported to add international bank cards, please switch to a mainland China bank card." This outcome should have been predictable, as the full opening of international bank card binding was originally intended to facilitate daily payments for foreigners in China, but it instead allowed the so-called "Mastercard U Card" related to virtual currencies, which is rampant in the market, to exploit the loophole. It is speculated that this may be the reason why WeChat has taken control measures.
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