ZA Bank, the first of the eight firms with a licence to launch a digital bank in Hong Kong, is to deploy payments software from Fiserv as it gears up towards a live launch.
ZA, established by ZhongAn Technologies International, launched the city's first digital-only bank in December as a pilot, and is offering 6% for three-month deposits up to HK$200,000 ($25,000), which includes a 4% top up.
The bank intends to provide a "full suite of services 24/7" through an account that can be opened in minutes with just a Hong Kong identity card.
Towards this end, ZA has called on Fiserv to deploy its VisionPLUS global payment software, which supports the entire card payment lifecycle, including origination, card issuance, authorisation, settlement and customer service. The package includes a full suite of APIs for speedy application development and integration.
Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank, says: “With our companies’ combined knowledge and expertise in banking and technology, we are well-placed to respond fast to the ever-changing market with an agile product development approach. By doing so, we can better cater to customers’ needs with cutting-edge offerings.”
Along with ZA, Chinese giants Ant Financial and Tencent, home-grown mobile lender WeLab, and consortia-based approaches from the likes of Standard Chartered and Bank of China, have been granted licences to operate digital banks by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the de facto central bank.