Year of the Dragon: Hong Kong banks use e-lai see to promote digital payment services, sign up new customers

Banks have launched marketing campaigns to encourage customers to send e-lai see with giveaways such as air miles, shopping vouchers and lucky draws

E-lai see provides virtual banks with much needed brand visibility as they do not have physical branches, a marketing consultant says

3-MIN READ3-MIN

E-lai see are becoming popular for sending and receiving lucky money during Lunar New Year. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:30am, 8 Feb 2024Updated: 5:20pm, 8 Feb 2024

Hong Kong banks, both virtual and bricks-and-mortar, are going all out to promote e-lai see, as sending and receiving lucky money electronically is fast rivalling the traditional practice of handing out red envelopes with cash.

Online-only lenders such as Mox Bank and WeLab Bank and traditional banks such as HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) (BOCHK) and Citigroup have launched marketing campaigns to encourage customers to send money electronically with giveaways such as air miles, shopping vouchers and lucky draws.

Hongkongers hand out lai see on auspicious occasions such as weddings and Lunar New Year, which starts on February 10 this year. Many banks use the festival to sign up new customers.

“Lunar New Year is a good period for us, and that is why we have launched the e-lai see special promotion to encourage customers to use Mox for their transactions and spending,” said Barbaros Uygun, CEO of Mox, which is co-owned by Standard Chartered.

Mox customers who send e-lai see can share their customer referral codes with friends and family. When a referral becomes a customer, the bank rewards the existing customer and new signee with a cash bonus of as much as a few hundred dollars.