More Virtual Banks to Switch On in Hong Kong

ABOUT US

CX Tech is Caixin Global's real-time tech news portal, featuring 24-hour news, short-form analysis, and roundups from business and tech media in China.

TRENDING: Huawei Launches New Foldable Smartphone, Targets Android Market with HMS; NIO Strikes Government Deal with New Headquarters and New Funding Plan; China Plans to Mass Produce Driverless Cars by 2025 Later Than Previous Forecast

LATEST: ByteDance-Owned TikTok Was World’s Most Downloaded Social Media App in January; Weibo Shares Plunge on Lower-than-expected Earnings, Weaker 1Q Guidance; China’s Handset Shipments Plummet Nearly 40% in January; China Has More Billionaires Than U.S. And India Combined: Hurun Report; Didi to Launch Food Delivery Service in Japan; NIO Strikes Government Deal with New Headquarters and New Funding Plan; Daimler Slims Down China Venture in Global Cost Saving; U.S. Transport Agency Bans Employees From Using TikTok For Work; Huawei Launches New Foldable Smartphone, Targets Android Market with HMS; Industries Switch Up Production Processes to Use Byproducts to Produce Medical Supplies; China Plans to Mass Produce Driverless Cars by 2025 Later Than Previous Forecast; U.S. Companies Fluctuate on Wall Street as Covid-19 Hits Their 2020 Forecasts; Snack Shop Serves Up First IPO from Wuhan Since Covid-19 Outbreak Took Hold; Chinese AI Firm Laiye Secures $42 Million in Series C Funding Round; Japan’s Finance Minister Expresses Concerns Over China’s Digital Yuan; U.S. Allows China’s iFlyTek to Resume Purchases of American-Made Medical Products During Outbreak; China Accounts For Nearly Half of All Global 5G Smartphone Shipments in 2019: Research; Xiaomi-Backed Smart Home Cleaner Maker Raises $641 Million in Shanghai IPO; Foxconn Allows Henan Workers to Return to Its Zhengzhou Complex; Alibaba-Owned Livestreaming Platform Taobao Live Sees Rapid Growth Amid Outbreak

By Wei Yiyang and Han Wei / Jan 18, 2020 07:18 AM / Business & Tech

picture

Hong Kong’s monetary authority expects three or four internet-only banks to kick off trial runs during the first quarter this year following the launch last month of the first such bank, ZA Bank Ltd., the authority said Friday.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) last year issued virtual bank licenses to eight companies to test the new services. The companies are scheduled to start pilot services within nine months after they received the licenses, according to the HKMA.

Only ZA Bank has started its trial run so far. The bank, controlled by Chinese online insurer ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Ltd., began offering virtual bank services Dec. 18 to 2,000 select retail users in advance of a full rollout.

Licensed companies will miss the schedule if they can’t start trials by the end of March. The HKMA didn’t elaborate what could hinder the steps of the banks.

WeLab Bank and Standard Chartered's SC Digital Solutions have said they plan to start services early this year.

Other license winners include JD.com-backed Livi VB, Ant SME Services (Hong Kong) Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed Infinium Ltd., Xiaomi Corp.-controlled Insight Fintech HK Ltd., and Ping An OneConnect Co. Ltd., a unit of Chinese insurance giant Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)

Share this article

Open WeChat and scan the QR code