Hong Kong’s ZA Bank brings crypto trading to 800K retail customers
Zhong An Bank (ZA Bank), Hong Kong’s largest digital bank, has announced that it is now offering crypto trading services to its 800,000 retail customers.
The bank set out details of its latest offering in a press release published to its website on Nov. 25. With that, ZA Bank claims to be the first Asian bank to offer crypto trading services to retail customers. Singapore’s DBS Bank was the first conventional bank in Asia to offer crypto services, although in that case, its offering was confined to institutional and accredited investors. It has yet to launch crypto trading for its retail customers.
HashKey Exchange partnership
While DBS built its own crypto exchange platform, in this instance, ZA Bank has decided to partner with local regulated crypto platform, HashKey Exchange. To begin with, the bank will offer Bitcoin and Ethereum in HKD and USD trading pairs. To promote the service, users are being offered commission-free trading during the first three months. A minimum investment level of HKD 600 ($70) has been set.
Essentially, ZA Bank customers can access this trading feature through the ZA Bank banking app. Commenting on the partnership, HashKey Exchange CEO Livio Weng stated:
”Our collaboration goes beyond technical synergies; it also reflects our shared commitment to upholding the highest regulatory standards. Looking ahead, HashKey Exchange will continue to work closely with ZA Bank to drive the development of the Web3 ecosystem, while delivering more diversified financial services to our users. Together, we aim to usher in a new era of wealth management.”
HashKey Exchange is one of three virtual asset exchanges in the Chinese autonomous territory that have been fully regulated and licensed.
Facilitating retail demand
The bank cited a recent Hong Kong Association of Banks survey, which suggested that 70% of respondents believe that banks offering virtual asset trading services would mean greater convenience for people in accessing cryptocurrencies. Consequently, it would lead to further adoption of cryptocurrencies and it’s on this basis that ZA Bank has launched this latest service, catering to an emerging demand from its customers.
Speaking to that, ZA Bank's Alternate Chief Executive Calvin Ng stated:
“The rise of cryptocurrency presents investors with more diverse asset allocation opportunities.”
On X, Neo blockchain co-founder Da Hongfei described the development as “noteworthy.” In particular, he highlighted the fact that ZA Bank supports account openings not just for Hong Kong residents but also mainland China residents living in Hong Kong. Notwithstanding that, crypto services still remain out of bounds for mainland China residents.
Hongfei also pointed out that the offering doesn’t allow the customer to transfer crypto purchased via the app off the platform. It is strictly limited to trading of crypto between digital assets and fiat currency.
This offering by ZA Bank has been in the works for quite a while, with the bank having indicated that an app-based crypto retail offering was in development last December. In September the bank received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to add digital asset transactions to its Type 1 license.
The bank is owned by ZA Global, an affiliate company of Chinese insurance company Zhong An.
