Hong Kong’s new banks will move fast, break things

The Bank of East Asia

03/02/2020 03:00

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are her own.)
    By Sharon Lam
    HONG KONG, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The city’s first
digital-only bank, backed by insurer ZhongAn, is
paying around 6% deposit interest. Similar promotions may come
from newbies backed by Ant, Xiaomi, and others. The aggressive
entrance suggests incumbents may lose revenue share fast to rich
upstarts.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    On Twitter https://twitter.com/sharonlamhk
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    - ZA Bank, a subsidiary of ZhongAn Technologies
International Group, on Jan. 13 announced that it was offering
up to 6.8% on three-month deposits capped at HK$100,000
($11,688) for its first 50 customers. The bank has since lowered
the rate to 6% to extend the promotion.
    - The new bank is part of the international arm of Chinese
online insurer ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance.   
    - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has granted digital
banking licences to eight virtual bank since March 2019.     
    - For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  LAM/ 
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BREAKINGVIEWS - Obsolescent Hong Kong lenders get a virtual kick
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BREAKINGVIEWS - Sweden provides a cautionary digital tale for
HSBC     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23C29Y
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 (Editing by xxx and Katrina Hamlin)
 ((sharon.lam@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
sharon.lam.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))