Prime views of the fireworks, a reception with Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, lucky draws and investment seminars were some of the incentives Hong Kong banks were rolling out to attract wealthy mainland customers during the golden week holiday, which kicked off on Wednesday.
Hong Kong authorities have estimated that as many as 1.54 million mainland visitors, including 1,200 tour groups, would cross the border during the eight-day “golden week” holiday, which coincides with China’s National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“I like to watch the fireworks in Hong Kong and meet with my banker in one go during the golden week holiday,” said a priority private client of Standard Chartered Bank surnamed Liu from Nanjing.
“Hong Kong ... allows me to invest in a wide range of overseas stocks, funds and other structured products,” she said. “The sound regulation [in the city] also makes me feel comfortable.”
Liu was among about 400 Standard Chartered clients to be given a “front row” view of the fireworks from the lender’s wealth centres in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay.
Golden week offered “golden opportunities” to sign up new customers as branch traffic increased by 30 per cent during the period, said Eliza Law, head of Standard Chartered’s affluent segment.
“Many mainland clients like to watch the fireworks at our wealth centres with their friends who could [turn out to] be our new customers,” Law said.
HSBC, the city’s biggest lender, also arranged for its wealthy clients to watch the National Day fireworks from its newly opened wealth centre on the 99th floor of ICC.
Separately, HSBC has also arranged a cocktail reception with internationally renowned Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, as part of a bank card product launch during the holiday. Leung has starred in almost 100 feature films, including local classics such as In the Mood for Love and the Hollywood blockbuster Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
HSBC also hosted a wealth investment lunch at Sha Tin Racecourse on National Day and will arrange educational seminars for the benefit of clients with children.
“China’s National Day holiday is always a peak period for us, as customers from mainland China combine travel to Hong Kong with other personal errands, such as managing their finances,” said Janet Pang, managing director and head of distribution of HSBC Hong Kong.
HSBC served over more than a few thousand of new and existing customers from the mainland during golden week in the past two years, Pang said.
HSBC and Standard Chartered – along with Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hang Seng Bank, Bank of East Asia, DBS Hong Kong and ICBC (Asia) – have all extended their bank opening hours during the holiday. Bank branches at tourist hotspots in Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay and West Kowloon will stay open longer, while some even served customers during the public holiday on Wednesday.
Other lenders were also offering incentives during golden week. ICBC (Asia), for example, offered customers a HK$22,000 spending limit on new credit cards and a higher interest rate of up to 2.6 per cent per annum on deposits.
“With the integration of the Greater Bay Area, two-way cross-border travellers between Hong Kong and mainland cities have been increasing, and hence the demand for cross-border wealth-related services,” said Wu Long, vice-chairman and CEO of ICBC Asia. The lender saw a 50 per cent year-on-year increase in mainland customers opening new accounts in the first eight months of this year.
DBS Bank (Hong Kong), meanwhile, was offering a HK$1,500 reward for new customers who opened a DBS Treasures account at the Tsim Sha Tsui branch during the extended opening hours on Wednesday and again on Saturday.
Hang Seng Bank offered a welcome gift and shopping vouchers for golden week visitors to its branches in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay, while Citibank was giving out a cash award of HK$172,000 for new private bank clients who met certain investment thresholds.
