Hong Kong’s first digital bank offers 6% rate that dwarfs HSBC’s

The first of Hong Kong’s new generation of digital banks has announced its arrival with a 6% introductory rate for deposits.

HONG KONG: The first of Hong Kong’s new generation of digital banks has announced its arrival with a 6% introductory rate for deposits.

ZA Bank Ltd, one of eight firms preparing to start digital-only banks in Hong Kong, has begun a trial run that pays a select group of depositors over 3 percentage points more than banks such as HSBC Holdings Plc and Standard Chartered Plc. Though many doubt the new banks well be able to maintain such rates, the offer is a warning of upcoming competition for the city’s US$410bil local currency time-deposit business.