HSBC, Standard Chartered, and online lenders Airstar, WeLab race to offer high interest rates, cash prizes to capture new customers claiming their HK$10,000 government payout

HSBC, the city’s biggest lender, is offering a 10 per cent saving rate for new customers who open an account to receive their handout

Many lenders offer cash draw from HK$20 to HK$100,000 to compete for 7 million people to register the government payout with them

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HSBC and Standard Chartered are among the lenders to have entered the battle for new customers who need a bank account to receive their cash handout. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:30am, 12 Jun 2020Updated: 11:12pm, 14 Jun 2020

Hong Kong’s banks, from new digital lenders to traditional powerhouses of the sector, are in a price war to lure 7 million Hong Kong permanent residents into using their platform to get their HK$10,000 (US$1,290) government cash handout.

Newly-launched virtual lenders like Airstar and the three note-issuing banks, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of China Hong Kong, have entered the fray, offering high interest rates, lucky draw prizes and other incentives.

The HK$71 billion of payouts announced by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in February’s budget is aimed at helping people cope with the economic slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a year of anti-government protests. Bankers, however, are taking it as an opportunity to compete for new customers.

People can register through one of 21 banks from June 21 until the end of next year to get their hands on the HK$10,000, with the money due to be paid into their registered bank account from July 8.

HSBC, the largest lender in the city, is offering a 10 per cent interest rate on up to HK$50,000 of savings for two months for new customers who open an account via its mobile phone app, until the end of July. It will also offer a lucky draw for customers who register for the government payout via its platform, but details will only be given next week, according to a spokesman for HSBC.

BOCHK is offering a 4.3 per cent interest rate for three-month time deposits of up to HK$100,000 for new customers who use mobile banking to open a new account.

Normal saving deposit rates in Hong Kong are close to zero, while time deposits are only between 1 and 2 per cent.