Retail News CRM

Tag: virtual bank

  • Xiaomi-Backed Virtual Bank Announces Hong Kong Pilot

    Xiaomi-Backed Virtual Bank Announces Hong Kong Pilot

    AirStar Bank has announced the launch of a pilot trial in Hong Kong, which will be conducted within the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Fintech Supervisory Sandbox.

    About 2,000 friends and families of the staff of Airstar, Xiaomi Hong Kong and AMTD Group will be onboarded to the virtual bank to gather user feedback and gauge requirements ahead of a full roll-out, according to an announcement by the bank on Tuesday.

    The bank is a joint venture virtual bank between Chinese electronics company Xiaomi and AMTD Group – Asia’s largest independent corporate finance and advisory house.

    According to the announcement, Airstar will offer tiered-pricing savings deposits and time deposits, and is promising up to 1 percent per annum for HKD saving deposits between HKD 500,000 ($64,500) and HKD 1,000,000. It will also offer unsecured lending products at transparent pricing with interest accrual on a daily basis.

    Airstar was among eight firms to receive a virtual bank license from HKMA in 2019. It is the second among the group to launch trials, following ZA Bank, which started operations in March this year.

    Currently Xiami has commenced pilot trial onboarding round 2,000 customers from friends and families of the staff of Airstar, Xiaomi Hong Kong and AMTD Group.

    Lees ook:

  • Hong Kong’s First Virtual Bank Launches

    Hong Kong’s First Virtual Bank Launches

    Hong Kong’s banking history enters a new chapter with the launch of its first virtual lender, ZA Bank.

    ZA Bank, co-owned by ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance and Sinolink Group, launched yesterday to become the first virtual bank to kickstart services in Hong Kong. According to its chief executive Rockson Hsu, the name «ZA» represents a reversal of alphabetical order which is a reminder to «think out of the box and view things from a different perspective».

    It’s good to be bold, contrarian and creative, Hsu added in a statement.

    ‘Z’ and ‘A’ also means ‘end-to-end’, it symbolizes our mission to redefine customer journey through technology, from the front-end (mobile app/branch), mid-office (customer service/operation department) to the back-end (operating system), from product development to service process.

    ZA Bank said it would offer interest rates of 1.4 percent for one-month Hong Kong dollar deposits and up to 2 percent for three, six and 12-month deposits.

    Whilst this lags behind traditional lenders in Hong Kong which offer up to 2.2 percent on 12-month deposits, ZA Bank’s minimum size of $1 falls very much well below traditional minimum deposit sizes of HK$10,000. ZA also provides time deposits for U.S. dollars and yuan.

    ZA Bank will initially only roll-out services such as remote account opening, multi-currency savings account, time deposits, local transfers and e-statement services only to a select handful of 2,000 users which include friends and relatives of its staff.

    The launch falls under the HKMA’s sandbox mechanism and once the pilot is deemed successful, services will be made accessible by the general public.

    We are delighted to note that the first virtual bank has started its trial run today in the HKMA’s Fintech Supervisory Sandbox, thanks to the diligent efforts of various parties, said Arthur Yuen, Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s deputy chief executive, in a separate statement.

    We believe that as virtual banks gain a better understanding of their customers’ preferences and habits over time, they will leverage financial technologies to offer more personalized products and services, and new user experience to customers.

    Seven other virtual banks in Hong Kong are expected to launch in the first half of next year.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Hong Kong Virtual Banks Talk Linkage with ATM Giant Jetco

    Hong Kong Virtual Banks Talk Linkage with ATM Giant Jetco

    Hong Kong’s upcoming virtual banks are considering cash withdrawal capabilities for its customers through automatic teller machine giant Jetco.

    Under the terms of the newly issued virtual banking licenses, no physical branches are allowed to be made and a partnership would allow the digital lenders to sidestep the rule while still providing access to physical cash.

    The virtual banks may opt to issue cards to customers to use the Jetco ATMs owned by other banks, or they can allow access through a mobile application on smartphones,» said Jetco CEO, Angus Choi Ping-chung, in an SCMP report.

    Jetco was founded by the entity preceding Bank of China (Hong Kong) which is amongst its now 30-strong list of lenders that are shareholders, including Standard Chartered Bank.

    With 44 ATMs per 100,000 residents, Hong Kong has the second-highest ATM density per capita, behind Singapore, according to the World Bank. And in Hong Kong, Jetco operates 60 percent of the 3,000 ATMs with the remaining 1,200 owned by HSBC and its majority-owned lender Hang Seng.

    But recent unrest in the city has led to the damage of about 10 percent of all ATMs, according to Choi, who noted that transactions were nonetheless unaffected as customers would just seek other undamaged machines.