Where to stash HK$150,000? An Iranian’s tale of life in Hong Kong without a bank account

Ali decided to leave mainland China because of the language barrier – but the obstacles he found in Hong Kong were even harder to navigate

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Iranians check exchange rates outside a bank in Tehran. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:04am, 20 Aug 2018Updated: 7:03am, 20 Aug 2018

When Ali left his job as a software developer for power substations in Hangzhou for Hong Kong, he thought the move would make his life easier.

The 45-year-old, who asked to be referred to as Ali, had lived in Hangzhou for 3½ years after leaving behind family and friends in Iran in 2013 to seek greater fortune in China.

“I thought moving to Hong Kong would be better because in [mainland] China I had problems with the language. Two times, I had to go to hospital and it was really difficult because no one could understand or speak English.”

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He took a job as a software engineer in Hong Kong, but he quickly found life wasn’t any easier. In fact, he lasted only 18 months after being denied one of life’s basic necessities, a bank account.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China would not let Ali open an account. Photo: Reuters

“I went to almost 11 banks, Bank of China, HSBC, ICBC, Standard Chartered Bank,” he said. “They told me, ‘Sorry because of your nationality, we can’t open an account.’”

Even the Hong Kong branch of his old bank in Hangzhou, the Construction Bank of China, refused to open an account for him.

His manager, a major HSBC client, accompanied him to an HSBC branch to vouch for him. But every time he followed up his application, he said, the bank would ask him for more documents.