Is Traditional Bank Out? Find the Ideal Banking Platform for HK Offshore Companies

Your Hong Kong offshore company is all set and rolling, but how about your bank account to support it?

With different banking services in the market, it can be quite confusing which one best-fit your business needs, and you will probably tell yourself that a personal bank account can keep your company prime and steady. But that’s a big NO-NO!

To our dear entrepreneurs, let us share why having a business bank account is important and beneficial to your Hong Kong company.

Discover and learn from this blog :

• What Is a Business Bank Account
• A Bank Account as Your Business Essential
• The Diverse Money Platforms
• Their Strength and Weaknesses
• Hong Kong Bank Account Opening
• The Best-Fit Alternative for Your Business

A Business Bank Account is an account solely used for business transactions. Using a Corporate Bank Account instead of a Personal allows you to track your expenses, receive payments under your company name, manage employee pay, and simplify tax reporting.

• Builds your credibility – It helps you create a credible image for your clients and potential investors.
• Accurate bookkeeping – Separating your business from your personal account makes it easier to track your company expenses.
• Clear audit trail – Having a different bank account for your business keeps a clean and transparent record of your revenues and expenditures.
• Keeping it professional – Issuing a check to your supplier or providing your account number to your clients with your company name gives the impression that your business is legit and you, as a business owner, are taking it seriously.

• Traditional Banking – The most well-known financial institution with various banking services — deposits and withdrawals, loans, bill payments, ATMs, and online and mobile banking. What sets this apart from all up-and-coming financial services is its physical presence. Traditional Banks have headquarters and regional HQs with branches located across the countries to cater to their valued customers.
• Virtual Banking – A digitalized type of banking service that provides to its local and international clients online. Its services are similar to Traditional Banking but differ significantly in client interaction since Virtual Banks don’t have any physical branches.
• FinTech – A portmanteau of the words’ Finance’ and ‘Technology.’ FinTechs are also banking alternatives that use technology to enhance or automate financial services, products, and processes. FinTech is a safe platform as they are partnered with licensed custodian banks & protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme.

Traditional Banks

Strengths

• Have a wide variety of financial products – savings, checking, trust fund, business checking account, wealth management, and investment.
• There are designated branches and ATMs in different local and international areas for the customer’s convenience.
• Flexible banking transactions from face-to-face to online banking.
• Cash is still the traditional form of currency, and customers deal with it frequently, making traditional banks an attractive and convenient option.

Weaknesses

• Low or no interest rate at all.
• Various banking fees – cancellation fees, hidden charges, etc.
• Poor customer service that doesn’t understand customer’s needs and doesn’t provide personalized solutions.

Hong Kong welcomes more and more entrepreneurs to do business with them. The city’s list of prestigious traditional banks, virtual banks, and FinTechs continuously adapt to their clients’ needs making convenient bank account opening their ultimate goal.

The secret to a successful bank account opening is submitting a filled out application along with the following documents :

Many factors can play in selecting a banking platform – types of products and services, convenience, accessibility, issue handling and solution, security and peace of mind, and more. Digging deeper into your business is still the best practice to know your venture needs.

If you are a small business owner who caters to local customers and is always on the go, a virtual bank is what you might need. Or, if you are an entrepreneur planning to expand overseas but don’t have the time to go through the tedious and lengthy process of traditional bank account opening, FinTech might be a good option.

Choose a platform that you can easily navigate but still gives you the services your business needs without any hassle.