Hong Kong virtual bank Livi woos borrowers through mobile games and big data

With over a quarter of the city’s virtual banking services users, Livi is attracting new borrowers with mobile games, big data

ZA Bank and Airstar Bank have extended the most loans among the city’s eight virtual banks, according to a KPMG report

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Virtual bank Livi is using mobile games to attract shoppers to use its banking app at health care chain Mannings and supermarket operator Wellcome. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:00am, 1 Nov 2021

The use of technology, such as big data and mobile gaming, has enabled Livi Bank to tap business opportunities from borrowers whose needs have been overlooked by the city’s 160 licensed banks, according to a top official at the virtual bank.

“The Covid pandemic has accelerated adoption of digital banking in Hong Kong, propelling technologies such as remote identity check, [and] remote customer onboarding,” said chief technology officer Gary Lam.

Big data and credit risk modelling have given the bank better insights into the spending habits of its customers, allowing it to better manage credit risks, he said.

Lam said one innovation that his team has brought to the city’s retail borrowers is a revolving loan service that enables its users to split their bills into instalments ranging from three to 36 months. The service is delivered using a virtual debit Mastercard stored on a mobile phone.

Livi Bank is co-owned by Bank of China (Hong Kong). Photo: Handout

Since its launch in August 2020, Livi, co-owned by Bank of China (Hong Kong), Jardine Matheson Group and JD Technology, the fintech arm of e-commerce giant JD.com, has signed up 150,000 users, according to Lam. The eight virtual banks licensed to operate in the city had about 580,000 registered users in March and together had HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion) in deposits, or just 0.1 per cent of Hong Kong’s deposit base, according to data from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The online bank is also leveraging businesses owned by Jardine to grow. Livi is using mobile games to attract shoppers to use its banking app at Jardine’s subsidiaries like health care chain Mannings and supermarket operator Wellcome.