Exclusive | Standard Chartered-backed virtual bank Mox wants to double its customer base in 2021, CEO says
- Mox is the second branchless lender to pass 100,000 customers mark
- Hong Kong’s e-commerce market is projected to balloon from US$21 billion last year to US$29 billion in 2024
The lender is the second branchless bank to pass the 100,000 threshold – a milestone that it achieved on Saturday – after ZA Bank declared it had reached 300,000 customers last month, in its first year of operations. WeLab Bank, another such lender, expects to reach the 100,000 mark by June, according to its CEO, Tat Lee. The trio account for 86 per cent of the total 580,000 customers among the eight virtual banks in the city, based on regulatory data.
Guven said he was encouraged by the sign-up rate and the amount of money clients were keeping in their accounts – about HK$60,000 (US$7,730) on average. This is 15 times higher than holders at digital-only banks in Britain, who maintained an average account balance of £350 (US$209) in the first half of 2019, according to a September 2019 report by Accenture Strategy.
The eight virtual banks, which are a major part of a fintech push by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in recent years, had already secured a combined HK$20 billion in deposits as of March, with most operating only for a few months. This shows the new generation of banks can compete with the 155 traditional lenders that serve the city’s 7.5 million people.
“When I compare this number with some challenger banks, even some traditional banks, in the UK or Germany or Spain or the US, you cannot see this type of balance,” Guven said in an interview with the Post. “This number is tremendous. It brings us a lot of opportunities, where we can create value for these customers. This is why Hong Kong is unique.”