bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Consumer advocates say the higher return is needed, but  BEA and Wing Lung point to their bottom line

Bank customers and consumer advocates have voiced concerns over the recent cancellation of a bonus interest rate for elderly people's accounts.

The Bank of East Asia and Wing Lung Bank have stopped giving  customers  aged 65 years and over an additional 0.125 per cent interest on fixed-deposit accounts in recent months, arguing it hurts their bottom line.

Based on BEA's Hong Kong dollar deposit rates, the special rate would return $515.70  on a $50,000 deposit over 12 months, compared to $453.20 over the same period at the current rate.

Victor Hung Tin-yau,  chief trade practices officer of the Consumer Council, said:  'We are concerned about whether these banks will introduce to the elderly other investment tools, such as government bonds, which are more complicated'.

Ko Siu-bick, an 83-year-old Bank of East Asia customer, was disappointed when she found out she could no longer get the higher interest rate.

She said she had been keeping her money in a fixed-deposit account for  years, because she did not know enough to safely invest in stocks.

'It is very unfair because it has been there all along,' she said of the BEA's  previous offer. We get discounts even on buses. It should be the same with banks.'

Iman Fok Tin-man,  an organiser at the Society for Community Organisation, said most of the elderly she had helped kept their money in fixed-deposit accounts.

'Many elderly rely on their 'fruit money' [old-age allowance] and savings to get by,' she said.

'Most of them keep their money in a fixed-deposit account or a regular savings account. So the interest earnings they receive are very important to them.'

Wing Lung Bank has been giving a bonus interest rate to its employees and elderly customers for several years, but ended  the offer last October because it was hurting the bank's bottom line, said spokesman Patrick Poon Tak-kau.

'We have always respected the elderly, but the interest rate in the market was too low,' Mr Poon said.

He added that the company would continue to provide other benefits to the elderly by waiving the service charge for cashier orders and gift checks.

Currently,  a $50,000 deposit  with Wing Lung yields 0.0313 per cent in interest for one month.

Adding the elderly interest rate would have more than doubled the interest return.

Of the major banks in Hong Kong, HSBC, Hang Seng and Standard Chartered do not give special interest rates to the elderly. The Bank of China is the only one that continues to do so.

Anyone who is 55  years or older and has a fixed-deposit account of $30,000 or more can qualify for the bank's special rate, which fluctuates and can only be quoted in person.



Interest cut for elderly prompts warnings