ZA Bank lets employees get paid early
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ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s first and largest virtual bank1, has introduced an early payday product that it says will entitle Hong Kong’s four million working population to advance their salaries maximum 7 days prior to their current payday. Marketed as ‘Salary FastPass’, the product provides seven-day interest-free payroll advance2. Customers can receive their monthly payroll automatically from their ZA Bank account on the payday set by themselves.
“As a virtual bank with an innovative mindset, we see ourselves as trailblazers within our industry and have both the opportunity and responsibility to challenge the norm and change the way people perceive money management,” says Rockson Hsu, CEO of ZA Bank. “Not only is this scheme suitable for those who need timely cash ahead of their payday, we also encourage people to put it to good use.”
By offering interest-free salary advances, Salary FastPass offers customers flexibility to better manage their finances, repayments such as mortgage payments, tuition fees or rental payments, or simply to meet their emergencies. Unlike payday loan, customers pay no interest during the seven-day interest-free period2.
The fund is disbursed through the customer’s ZA Bank account on the specified ZA Payday of every month. By the end of the interest-free period, the bank will automatically collect the money from the same ZA Bank account and customers do not need to change their payroll accounts at all.
Early payday schemes are already common in the UK and the US. For example, a virtual bank based in the UK has a popular feature that allows its 3.9 million current account customers to get their salaries a day early. Thus, ZA Bank as the first bank to launch payday product aims to provide different banking experience to the public in Hong Kong.
In fact, enabling early access to earned income is becoming a popular feature in the fintech space, says Hsu, adding that “it makes every dollar earned by workers count”. Offering seven-days salary advance free of interest, Salary FastPass is the first of its kind not only in Hong Kong but also in Asia.
To engage with customers and collect genuine feedback, ZA Bank adopts a ‘community-driven’ approach to driving innovation, encouraging customers to contribute their ideas to product development, service enhancement and the app’s usability.
A case in point is the launch of ZA Card following an extensive customer feedback exercise. ZA Card is Hong Kong’s first Visa debit card that charges no annual fees, interests or late fees while cardholders can also customise the card number.
Earlier this year the company forayed into the digital insurance space and now provides a suite of ZA Insure products through the ZA Bank app. Customers can buy a policy in as fast as 180 seconds, where all steps will be completed on the smart phone without meeting an insurance agent in person3.
ZA Bank is Hong Kong’s first virtual bank licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), a member of the Deposit Protection Scheme and is also licensed by the Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) as ZA Insure.
1 ZA Bank secured a leading position in the virtual banking space in terms of user numbers, personal deposits and loan amount as of December 31, 2020.
2 If a user does not have enough balance for auto-repayment on the seventh day after every ZA Payday, interest will be incurred. The Annualised Percentage Rate (“APR”) is 34.49% for a loan amount of HK$200,000, calculated using method specified in relevant guidelines issued by the Hong Kong Association of Banks. Please refer to the Key Facts Statement for details. An APR is a reference rate, which includes all applicable interest rates, fees and charges of the product, expressed as an annualised rate. To borrow or not to borrow? Borrow only if you can repay!
3 The actual completion time varies across individuals. In general, provided that all required information is in order, a user can finish the application process within three minutes.
