Hong Kong lenders big and small ratchet up competition in city’s electronic lai see market with lucky draws, catchy stickers, other new features

Various e-lai see services from the apps of virtual banks and the city’s traditional big players started to roll out new features ahead of the Lunar New Year

E-lai see services have helped encourage more young people to take part in sending digital red packets on different occasions

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Hong Kong lenders are betting on timely new features, as part of the city’s Lunar New Year celebration, to entice more consumers to use their electronic lai see services. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:00am, 1 Feb 2022

Hong Kong lenders are escalating efforts to expand the local market for electronic lai see amid increasing demand from tech-savvy consumers, while current social-distancing measures have made this digital red packet service more essential than ever, according to bankers.

Various e-lai see services from the apps of virtual banks such as Mox and ZA Bank as well those of the city’s traditional big players HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Citibank, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of East Asia started to roll out new features – including lucky draws and catchy stickers – ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday this week.

Hongkongers hand out lai see – red paper packets filled with “lucky money” – on auspicious occasions like weddings and the Lunar New Year, which starts on February 1 this year. The first three days of the Lunar New Year are public holidays and non-market days in the city, with most offices and businesses resuming operations on February 4.

“We’ve seen e-lai see enjoying a faster adoption rate among young consumers in various scenarios,” said James Chan, a senior product manager at ZA Bank, the city’s first and the biggest virtual bank with more than 400,000 customers. “Apart from the Lunar New Year, young consumers are sending e-lai see to friends and family for birthdays and weddings.”

Mox Bank is offering special Year of the Tiger stickers to consumers using its e-lai see service. Photo: Handout

Married couples and older persons traditionally give physical lai see to children and younger people during the Lunar New Year. Corporate bosses, meanwhile, distribute these red packets to employees. With e-lai see services, more young people are encouraged to take part in sending digital red packets on different occasions, according to bankers.