Open Bank Account under COVID-19 pandemic

Current Status in HK

With the low and simple tax system, having a HK company with a Hong Kong bank account can bring numerous benefits for doing business locally or globally.

To get a bank account in HK, one of the KYC ("Know Your Clients") requirements is to have a face-to-face interview the ultimate owner(s). However, non-HK residents are not allowed to enter unless a working visa is granted.

Most foreign clients are now shifting to use an E-Account offered by local FinTech companies ,like PayPal but better for business. Another option is to apply a bank account in home country or offshore jurisdictions.

What is E-Accounts?

E-Accounts offers online services in sending and receiving moneys among merchants which are provided by the Licensed Money Service Operators in HK. The E-Accounts does not require minimum deposit nor charge any monthly fees. The only fees is the admin fee for sending moneys and this charge is normally lower than the standard banks charge.

One of the E-Accounts providers is Airwallex, whose investors are Tencent, Master Card, DST Global and ANZ Bank. Click here to Airwallex's website.

What is Offshore Bank account?

As mentioned above, HK banks require face-to-face interview, but you must have heard that some banks accept paper-application (also known as Remote Application). How can this be?

In fact, most of the banks accepting remote application are located at the so-called offshore jurisdictions like Belize, Nevis, BVI, Mauritius or Switzerland. These banks provide international banking facilities including multi-currency and online banking. And the bank charges are comparatively higher than HK banks do.

What should I do?

What we are seeing is that most choose to get an E-Account or an Offshore Bank account to do business with a HK company as the tax benefits can cover these costs. Another reason is that the transaction records from these accounts would be a credit for applying for a Hong Kong bank account in future.

Need Assistance?

Please feel free to send email at info@rbcs.com.hk

What is "E-Accounts"?

Many clients have asked WHAT and WHY E-Accounts (offered by FinTech company) are so Hot nowadays? I will compare and contrast the differences and similarities. Let's GO!

Comparison

One of the few distinctions is the fact that E-Accounts are almost exclusively online, even though few happen to have physical open-door premises. Thanks to such business practice, the Renting costs can be saved for those FinTech companies and consequently offer excellent banking conditions at lower fees.

In terms of Compliance matters, both FinTech companies, as well as Banks, are regulated by the governments and so are obliged to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures.

And usually, banks offer a wide variety of services such as investment management, merchant banking, wealth planning, and structuring, loans, etc. In other words, clients with FinTech companies are NOT going to be sold with any Insurance or Wealth Management proposal. DO NOT GET ME WRONG! I suggest to have Insurance and Wealth Management in your life.

Use Reputable FinTech

You can run across a million different FinTech just browsing the web but the services can vary wildly. The crucial thing is finding a reputable FinTech that you can trust your money with and which you can depend on in a time of an emergency.

RBCS has worked with Airwallex and Neat which you can trust with.

Learn more at: https://www.rbcs.com.hk/e-account