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 the city’s $410 billion local currency time-deposit business.