ZA Bank lets employees get paid early
[Sponsored Article]
ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s first and largest virtual bank1, has introduced an early payday product that it says will entitle Hong Kong’s four million working population to advance their salaries maximum 7 days prior to their current payday. Marketed as ‘Salary FastPass’, the product provides seven-day interest-free payroll advance2. Customers can receive their monthly payroll automatically from their ZA Bank account on the payday set by themselves.
“As a virtual bank with an innovative mindset, we see ourselves as trailblazers within our industry and have both the opportunity and responsibility to challenge the norm and change the way people perceive money management,” says Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank. “Not only is this scheme suitable for those who need timely cash ahead of their payday, we also encourage people to put it to good use.”
By offering interest-free salary advances, Salary FastPass offers customers flexibility to better manage their finances, repayments such as mortgage payments, tuition fees or rental payments, or simply to meet their emergencies. Unlike payday loan, customers pay no interest during the seven-day interest-free period2.
The fund is disbursed through the customer’s ZA Bank account on the specified ZA Payday of every month. By the end of the interest-free period, the bank will automatically collect the money from the same ZA Bank account and customers do not need to change their payroll accounts at all.
Early payday schemes are already common in the UK and the US. For example, a virtual bank based in the UK has a popular feature that allows its 3.9 million current account customers to get their salaries a day early. Thus, ZA Bank as the first bank to launch payday product aims to provide different banking experience to the public in Hong Kong.
In fact, enabling early access to earned income is becoming a popular feature in the fintech space, says Hsu, adding that “it makes every dollar earned by workers count”. Offering seven-days salary advance free of interest, Salary FastPass is the first of its kind not only in Hong Kong but also in Asia.
