— Simon Loong , Founder and CEO , WeLab

A recent report by the South China Morning Post found that ZA Bank has been “ offering up to a very juicy 6.8 % interest rate on deposits ” which is extraordinarily high — but only to 50 lucky winners who sign up the most users to the service . The effort to create a buzz also risks starting a “ rate war ” among the new fintechs in Hong Kong , as they are forced to compete to offer the flashiest packages to a population already heavily invested in a legacy banking economy .

WeLab VB , may also offer some “ promotional interest rates ” as a short-term strategy when it is launched later this year , according to group founder Simon Loong , the South China Morning Post reports .

“ As new entrants , these virtual banks will need to think of some strategy to build up their brand awareness and offer high interest rates as a way to capture the public attention ,” said Gary Ng Kwun-ho , a partner at PwC who specialises in virtual banking practice . “ Customers can benefit if they add the competitive pressure to challenge traditional banks and their digital banking services .”

2020 will be a defining year for fintechs and virtual banking in the APAC region , as Singapore , South Korea , Hong Kong and China all increase efforts to digitally disrupt their banking industries . The current race to reshape the Hong Kong fintech sector is providing an illuminating amount of insight into what the process will look like . One thing is for sure , virtual banks in Asia are willing to bend over backwards for a slice of this very big , and very valuable pie . The race has only just begun .

51 www . fintechmagazine . com