ZA Bank Limited Is A Virtual Bank Jointly Established By ZhongAn Online And Bestar. It Is The First Virtual Bank In Hong Kong.
Preparation And Opening
ZhongAn Virtual Finance Limited, A Joint Venture Between ZhongAn Online, Bestar And China CITIC Bank International, Applied For A Virtual Bank License In Hong Kong And Invited Ke Qinghui, Who Was The CEO Of Hang Seng Bank, To Serve As A Director. Only China CITIC Bank International Withdrew From The Joint Venture Before Issuing The Virtual Bank License. Cooper Lijun, An Executive Director Of China CITIC Bank International, Also Resigned As A Director Of ZhongAn Virtual Finance Limited On February 8. Ke Qinghui Also Resigned As A Director In April 2019.
Virtual Bank Refers To The Fact That The Bank Has No Physical Branches And Relies On Online Banking, Etc., To Conduct Business.
On March 27, 2019, The Hong Kong Monetary Authority Announced The Issuance Of The First Batch Of Virtual Banking Licenses, And The Winners Included "ZhongAn Virtual Finance Limited".
ZA Bank Was Originally Scheduled To Start Trial Operation In November 2019, But It Was Finally Postponed To December 18 To Start Trial Operation, And Officially Opened On March 24, 2020.
Shareholder Background
ZA Bank Is Wholly Owned By ZhongAn International, A Non-wholly-owned Subsidiary Of ZhongAn Online. In October 2021, ZhongAn Online Announced That ZhongAn International Intends To Conduct Multiple Rounds Of Financing. In Addition To Capital Injection From Warrior, A Wholly-owned Subsidiary Of ZhongAn Technology, Bestar, And The Agent Of Chow Tai Fook Under The Cheng Yu Tung Family, It Also Introduced Opportunities Fund, An Investment Project Under AIA, As A New Shareholder. The Total Amount Of Capital Raised By The End Of June 2022 Is 382 Million US Dollars. Estimated By The Amount Of Capital Increase, It Is Equivalent To The Overall Valuation Of ZhongAn International Of About 1.75 Billion US Dollars (about 13.65 Billion Hong Kong Dollars), Becoming A Local Financial Technology Unicorn In Hong Kong.
Number Of Users And Performance
One Year After The Official Opening Of ZA Bank, The User Scale Has Exceeded 300,000
As Of July 31, 2021, The Bank Has More Than 400,000 Users, And As Of The End Of June Of The Same Year, It Recorded 7.70 Billion Hong Kong Dollar Deposits And 1.36 Billion Hong Kong Dollar Loans Respectively.
As Of The End Of 2022, ZA Bank Has More Than 650,000 Users, Which Is The Largest In Virtual Silver.
As Of June 30, 2023, The Size Of ZA Bank's Retail Users Has Expanded To Nearly 700,000. The Deposit Balance Is About 10.70 Billion Hong Kong Dollars, And The Total Loan Balance Is About 4.90 Billion Hong Kong Dollars.
By The End Of 2023, The Bank's Customer Deposits Were About HK $11.70 Billion, The Highest Among The Eight Virtual Banks In Hong Kong; The Loan Balance Was About HK $5.32 Billion. During The Year, ZA Bank Provided Commercial Banking Services To More Than 100 Web3 Companies, Including More Than 80% Of Virtual Asset Trading Platforms (VATPs) In Hong Kong. The Transfer Transaction Volume Handled By Web3 Corporate Customers Exceeded US $1 Billion.
The Bank's Management Said In A Media Interview That Deposits In The First Quarter Of 2024 Increased By 50% Compared With The End Of 2023.
Company History And Business Development
ZA Bank Is Currently The Most Comprehensive Virtual Bank In Hong Kong. In Addition To Basic Deposit, Loan And Transfer Services, It Also Covers Commercial Banking, Card Payment, Cross-border Inward Remittance, Investment And Insurance.
In October 2020, ZA Bank Launched The ZA Card, The First Visa Debit Card In Hong Kong With A Custom Number. Users Can Choose The Last 6 Digits On The Card Face, And There Are No Annual Fees, Interest And Overdue Fees. The Physical ZA Card Was Launched In November. Users Can Withdraw Cash At Nearly 3 Million Visa ATMs Around The World With The Card, And Withdraw Money At More Than 3,000 Visa-accepting Bank ATMs In Hong Kong For Free. According To Data Released By ZA Bank, ZA Card Is One Of The Most Active Visa Cards In Hong Kong, With An Average Of 1 Use Per User Every 2 Days.
ZA Bank Officially Launched Commercial Banking Services On March 22, 2021, With No Minimum Deposit Amount For Savings Accounts. On April 30 Of The Same Year, ZA Bank Announced Its Participation In Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation's "SME Financing Guarantee Scheme".
In May Of The Same Year, Three Insurance Products Were Officially Launched On The ZA Bank App, And The First Life Savings Insurance Plan Was Launched In December.
In October 2021, ZA Bank Launched "FastPass", A Revolving Loan Product That Pays 7 Days Earlier, Allowing Users To Choose Their Own Pay Day And Receive Their Monthly Salary As Early As 7 Days Before The Original Pay Day.
In January 2022, ZA Bank Was Granted A Securities Trading License By The Securities And Futures Commission, Making It The First Virtual Bank To Obtain This License.
In April 2022, ZA Bank Partnered With Generali Hong Kong To Distribute Generali's Critical Illness, Life Insurance, And Eligible Annuity Policies.
In August 2022, ZA Bank Launched Its Fund Investment Service, Becoming The First Virtual Bank In Hong Kong To Offer Services Covering Banking, Investment And Insurance.
In November 2022, ZA Bank Partnered With British Technology Company Wise To Provide Users With International Money Transfer Services, Including Australian Dollars, US Dollars, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars And Singapore Dollars.
In December 2022, ZA Bank Launched Its Currency Exchange Service And Provided Real-time Quotes On Exchange Rates. Users Can Exchange US Dollars, RMB, Hong Kong Dollars, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Euros, British Pounds, Indonesian Rupiah, Indian Rupees, Japanese Yen, Korean Won, Malaysian Dollars, New Zealand Dollars, Singapore Dollars, And Thai Baht Anytime, Anywhere, Without Exchange Fees.
In April 2023, ZA Bank CEO Yao Wensong Said That It Will Provide Customers With Cryptocurrency Exchange Services For Fiat Currencies Through Licensed Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Allowing Customers To Deposit Cryptocurrencies On Licensed Exchanges And Withdraw Funds In Hong Kong Dollars, RMB And US Dollars. It Is Currently Operating With Two Licensed Cryptocurrency Exchanges In Hong Kong, HashKey And OSL.
In April 2023, ZA Bank Announced The "Banking For Web3" Development Blueprint, Aiming To Become The Preferred Banking Partner Of The Web3 Ecosystem, Providing Basic Commercial Banking Services To Web3 Enterprises, And Acting As A Settlement Bank For Hong Kong Licensed Virtual Asset Exchanges.
In May 2023, ZA Bank Announced The Launch Of Virtual Asset Trading Services To Retail Investors Through Cooperation With Local Licensed Virtual Asset Exchanges, Providing Users With Comprehensive Financial Services. At The Same Time, It Also Plans To Launch US Stock Trading Services. In The Same Month, ZA Bank Participated In The "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" (e-HKD) Pilot Program Launched By The Hong Kong Monetary Authority To Test Tokenized Asset Settlement, Becoming The First Virtual Bank Selected To Participate In The Program.
In May 2023, The Parent Company Of ZA Bank, "ZhongAn International", Raised Shares From One Of The Shareholders, Bestar (01168). The Funds Involved Nearly 500 Million Hong Kong Dollars To Further Promote Its Business Expansion.
In August 2023, Hong Kong's First Virtual Asset Licensed Retail Exchange, HashKey Exchange, Was Officially Launched. ZA Bank Is One Of The Official Banking Partners, Providing Fiat Currency Deposit And Withdrawal Services.
In November 2023, ZA Bank Was Approved By The Securities And Futures Commission To Prepare For The Launch Of US Stock Trading Services.
In February 2024, ZA Bank Officially Launched US Stock Trading Services. In The Same Month, The Bank Launched A Current Savings Sub-account "Money Poppy", Which Separates Savings From Daily Expenses. Users Can Unlock Additional Annual Interest Rates On Current Deposits By Completing Designated Monthly Challenges. The Bank Also Became Huanhui's First Virtual Banking Partner In Hong Kong, Providing Financing Solutions To Merchants In The Huanhui Ecosystem Through A Credit Assessment Model.
In April 2024, ZA Bank Announced That It Would Provide Exclusive Banking Services To Stablecoin Issuers In Hong Kong To Safeguard Their Fiat Currency Reserves.
