HK banks refuse accounts to poor and ethnic minorities
People are being denied bank accounts because of ethnicity or poverty, writes Nicky Burridge
Aneesah, from Pakistan, has been denied a bank account five times. She has been in Hong Kong for two years and wants to open an account to save some of the money her husband gives her for weekly housekeeping. That way, she would have some money of her own, and some for her two girls, aged eight and four.
She took her passport, Hong Kong ID card and her mobile phone contract - as proof of her address - along to the bank. But the bank representative she spoke to said that was not enough and asked to see her tenancy agreement. Aneesah said the agreement was in her husband's name, not hers.
"They asked me: 'why do you need to open an account? You are a housewife, not a working woman'," she says.
Aneesah tried to open an account at five banks but was blocked at each, so she gave up.
"I was really upset. I have been here two years and my husband is a permanent resident. I felt I was not being treated equally. I need to save money, but I can't because nobody will open an account for me. I have two friends who have had the same problem. I think everyone should be allowed to open a bank account," she says.
This is the world of Hong Kong's unbanked, people who have been denied access to a simple savings account with a local bank.
They are denied conveniences we all take for granted, such as ATM machines and the ability to pay bills with electronic transfers. A credit card is out of the question. Almost anything that involves money is more complicated and, typically, more expensive.