Due to the tightening of foreign exchange controls, the bank account opening policy in Hong Kong may be further tightened. If you need to open a bank account in Hong Kong, you need to apply as soon as possible. At the same time, the Federal Reserve estimates that it will start to cut interest rates in mid-2024, and the high interest rate of the US dollar/Hong Kong dollar will only last for one year in 2024. If only a small amount of funds needs to be allocated for high-interest savings, it may not be cost-effective to open an account in Hong Kong.
Note: Starting from January 29, 2024, the mainland of China and Hong Kong will simultaneously implement the “Arrangement on Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Civil and Commercial Judgments by the Courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region“. The mainland courts of China have the right to freeze the assets of Hong Kong accounts for civil litigation.
1. Why choose HSBC?
Among Hong Kong banks, HSBC belongs to the first tier in terms of revenue, with revenue close to 100 billion Hong Kong dollars; Bank of China (Hong Kong), Standard Chartered, and Hang Seng belong to the second tier, with annual revenue of tens of billions of Hong Kong dollars. ICBC (Asia), CCB (Asia), China CITIC Bank (International), CMB Wing Lung and other Chinese banks belong to the third tier, with annual revenue of billions of Hong Kong dollars.
HSBC has previously acquired Hang Seng Bank. HSBC mainly does international business and serves wealthy people. Hang Seng mainly serves local residents in Hong Kong. Therefore, HSBC has always been unwelcome for ordinary mainland residents to visit Hong Kong to open accounts. Recently, because the account opening policy may be further tightened, it is also very simple to open an account without an appointment at HSBC branches. Note that some bank branches may not have an appointment number at 10 o’clock after opening at 9 o’clock in the morning. You must go to HSBC as early as possible to open an account.
HSBC app is not easy to use. The interest rate of regular savings is lower than that of small banks such as Wing Lung Bank, and the fund options available are limited. However, most people still give priority to HSBC. In addition to the big brand, the global account is an important reason. The global account can transfer money to any HSBC account in the world under the name of an individual at any time 24×7, without any handling fee (except for HSBC in the mainland, which has foreign exchange control). Note that this function is theoretically available to HSBC One users, but if you do not work and live overseas, it is difficult for HSBC to open an overseas account for HSBC One users, so you cannot use the global account to transfer money. Generally, only HSBC Premier (requires more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars in funds) or higher-level accounts can witness the account opening. It is recommended that users with actual needs consider opening an account with HSBC.
2. Prepare information for account opening
- ID: Chinese Resident ID Card
- Travel Document: Either Hong Kong and Macau Pass or Passport. Even if you enter Hong Kong with a Hong Kong and Macau Pass, you can use your passport as a travel document for opening an account, and vice versa. It is recommended to choose the document with a longer validity period. If the travel document expires, you may need to go to the branch to renew it.
- Proof of Address: Because you will need to receive and mail cards later, it is recommended to choose your current work address. Proof of address can be a utility bill issued by an official agency, or a bank bill. The easiest way is to ask the bank to send a credit card bill, stamp it with the bank’s seal, and choose to receive it by express delivery (the fee is generally 20 yuan, don’t choose ordinary mail, it is easy to lose it). It is theoretically possible to print an electronic credit card bill with address information yourself, but for the sake of insurance, it is more reliable to choose an email with a bank seal.
- No proof of address: If you think it is troublesome to provide proof of address, you can directly use the address on the ID document. The address on the ID document may not be able to receive emails from Hong Kong, so consider it carefully.
- 10,000 Hong Kong dollars: You can buy foreign exchange in the mainland first, and bring cash to deposit it at a branch in Hong Kong. You can also use a savings card or credit card issued in the Mainland to withdraw cash at an ATM while queuing at a Hong Kong bank branch. Generally, you can withdraw up to 5,000 or 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, so it is safer to bring more cards (both the ATM and the bank may charge a handling fee, so be sure to check whether the card has enabled the overseas withdrawal function).
- Regarding the minimum deposit requirement: Some comments replied that it is not necessary to deposit 10,000 Hong Kong dollars. After virtual banks obtained licenses in Hong Kong in 2019, many physical banks, including HSBC, cancelled the minimum deposit requirement for basic accounts. However, in December 2023, my friend was asked to deposit money when opening an account, and the requirements may be different at different branches.
3. Go to an offline branch to open an account
Go to a Hong Kong bank branch
It is recommended to go to a Hong Kong branch to activate in the morning on weekdays, as the number may not be available in the afternoon. Hong Kong banks have shorter working hours on Saturdays, and Hong Kong’s public holidays are different from those in the mainland, so special attention should be paid. The specific branch locations can be directly checked on Google maps. The Sheung Shui branch, which can be reached by taking one subway stop from Futian Port (Lok Ma Chau), is generally the busiest, and the Shatin branch, which is a few stops away, will have fewer people. It is common to wait for 2-3 hours after picking up the number.
There are three types of HSBC accounts. HSBC One requires no balance requirement, HSBC Premier requires a balance of more than HKD 1 million, and HSBC Jade requires a balance of more than HKD 7.8 million. Generally, HSBC One is sufficient. After completing the account opening, the teller will directly give you a withdrawal card and help you set up online banking. You must remember the account number and password of the online banking. Although the withdrawal card issued by Hong Kong banks has the UnionPay logo, it can only be used to withdraw money at ATMs and cannot be used for consumption. The amazing thing is that HSBC UnionPay withdrawal cards can be bound to Apple Pay for recharging Octopus or consumption. If you need a Mastercard, you can apply for a debit card/savings card in the HSBC app, which will generally be mailed to the correspondence address.
For other precautions, please see the figure below
4. Accounts and Others
Accounts
Newly opened accounts will have a Hong Kong dollar savings account and a Hong Kong dollar current account. Unlike mainland bank accounts, Hong Kong bank accounts will have two accounts: savings accounts and current accounts. Savings account deposits have current interest, and current accounts (checking) are suitable for writing checks and various expenses. The US dollar account is not displayed by default. After depositing or transferring US dollars, the US dollar savings account will be displayed. You can also buy US dollars with Hong Kong dollars in the account. Other mainstream currencies are also supported by default, but they will only be displayed after the corresponding currency is transferred.
Remittance from Mainland Bank to HSBC Hong Kong
To transfer money from a mainland bank to HSBC Hong Kong, you need to buy foreign exchange in the mainland bank app and then transfer money through the SWIFT channel. The purchase of foreign exchange occupies a foreign exchange quota of 50,000 US dollars. At the same time, mainland banks generally have various fees such as telecommunications fees, ranging from 50-250 RMB. It is generally recommended to choose a common SHA for remittance fees, that is, both parties need to share the handling fee. The handling fee on the Hong Kong side is generally less than 10 Hong Kong dollars.
The SWIFT payment network is a global network. Large banks and even some branches have their own proprietary SWIFT codes. Knowing the SWIFT code and bank account information allows you to remit money worldwide. It usually takes 2-5 days to complete the remittance, which is inefficient and has high fees. It is mainly used for commercial purposes or large amounts.
HSBC Hong Kong transfers Hong Kong dollars to local banks in Hong Kong (small transfers)
All banks and mobile wallets in Hong Kong support Faster Payment System, which can be simply understood as the Hong Kong version of UnionPay. After registering with a mobile phone number or email address, you can transfer between various bank accounts and mobile wallets. Transfers support Hong Kong dollars and RMB, real-time arrival, no handling fees, and a daily limit of 10,000-20,000 Hong Kong dollars. Even if you don’t know the other party’s FPS information (email or mobile phone or FPS ID), you can fill in the other party’s bank account to transfer money. For unregistered recipients, the limit is generally 10,000-20,000 Hong Kong dollars.
HSBC Hong Kong transfers HKD to local banks in Hong Kong (large transfers)
All large transfers in Hong Kong require the registration of the payee in advance. After registering the payee information in the bank APP, HSBC needs 1-2 working days to review it. After the review is completed, the transfer limit can be increased. Generally, the single transfer limit is 4 million Hong Kong dollars. Use mobile banking to transfer Hong Kong dollars to personal accounts in local banks in Hong Kong, without handling fees.
HSBC Hong Kong transfers USD to local banks in Hong Kong (including brokerage accounts)
This function is generally used when using USD for stock trading. The USD in HSBC Hong Kong Bank is directly transferred to the USD account established by the brokerage in other local banks in Hong Kong. The single handling fee is generally HKD 50, which will be automatically converted into USD for deduction. If a large amount of funds needs to be transferred to the brokerage, you can consider eDDA quick deposit. The specific process can be found in the official tutorials of different brokerages.
Deposit interest rate
There are two mechanisms for bank deposits in Hong Kong. One is like the mainland, where the current funds in the account can be used to buy fixed-term products at any time. Wing Lung Bank is one of them.
There is also a category like HSBC and Bank of China (the limit for Bank of China is 30 days), where only new funds entering this account within 7 natural days can purchase fixed-term products, and the fixed-term interest rate of funds deposited for more than 7 days is almost 0. The 7-day new funds here refer to “the increase in the latest total balance of all deposit accounts under your name compared with the total balance of deposits 7 calendar days ago, and the calculation unit is Hong Kong dollars”. So when there is no new funds in the account, click to buy a fixed-term, and the interest rate you see is extremely low; for the convenience of inquiry, you can first check the fixed-term interest rate of new funds on the official website of HSBC Bank before deciding whether to transfer in. After the fixed-term expires, you need to transfer the funds out first, and then transfer them in after 7 days to continue to enjoy the fixed-term interest rate of new funds.
The picture below is a real-time screenshot, and the interest rate is for reference only.
Buying financial products
HSBC’s funds are generally called unit trust funds. There are not many categories to choose from, and you can choose according to your investment preferences. Before investing, you need to take a test to see your risk preference. Like mainland funds, they are all 1-5 levels from low to high.
It should be noted that the operation of the HSBC app is rather strange. After clicking to confirm the purchase of the fund, this part of the funds will disappear. Although the total funds remain unchanged, this part of the funds cannot be found. It will only be displayed again after a few days after the fund shares are confirmed. You can’t see the progress and can’t cancel the purchase.
Buying stocks
Hong Kong banks generally have high commissions for buying stocks, and most of them have monthly fees. HSBC supports the purchase of Hong Kong stocks and US stocks. Before opening, you need to submit a statement on the web version or the Hong Kong HSBC Investment Full Speed Easy app. It is more troublesome than various brokerage apps, so I won’t introduce it here.