I recently took a trip to Hong Kong, but honestly, even though I've been to other countries, this is my first time in Hong Kong. The scenery and bustle of Hong Kong didn't really interest me, but this time I wanted to apply for a few Hong Kong bank accounts. After spending a long time in the cryptocurrency circle, it's sometimes inconvenient to use money from domestic banks, especially since it's easy to be subject to risk control measures. I tried applying for accounts at HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank, etc., but it was difficult to meet the requirements. Later, I saw on Xiaohongshu that it's actually quite easy to apply for a savings card at HSBC with good reasons. However, I didn't have enough time to do it. But within Hong Kong, you can still apply for accounts at Zabank and Ant Bank, which also support fast transfers and make it very convenient to withdraw HKD, especially Zabank, which also has a Visa card.
After using the Zabank account for a few days, let me share my experience.
Deposits#
Regarding how to deposit money into this card, it's actually very simple. You can do it through cross-border transfer platforms like Alipay and WeChat Pay, including services like Wise. But since I already have a Hong Kong account, why not try the withdrawal function in the cryptocurrency circle? So I tried several platforms including Binance and OKEx to withdraw HKD through C2C trading. However, it was obvious that Binance and OKEx showed that my country is not supported because my KYC information is from mainland China, and I used a Spanish address when applying for the Binance Visa card. This route didn't work, so I had to go through the KYC process at hkd.com. But during the authentication process, I found that Huobi's C2C trading doesn't care where you're from and allows you to directly choose HKD for withdrawal. After setting up the fast transfer service, I withdrew 10u to test it out, and it actually worked.
The funds were successfully received. Let's try using a few tens of Hong Kong dollars.
Binding Overseas Bank Cards to WeChat Pay and Alipay#
Just after withdrawing money, I received some good news. WeChat Pay and Alipay have both opened up the ability to bind overseas bank cards for payments. It's like they were tailor-made for me!
So, I tried binding my WeChat Pay account for payments. Generally, it shouldn't be a problem for merchants to scan my code. What I wanted to test was whether I could make a payment by scanning a merchant's QR code at a regular small store. I randomly found a small shop and tried buying a pack of cigarettes!
It was very successful. Additionally, if the amount is below 200 RMB, WeChat Pay doesn't charge any transaction fees, but Zabank does charge some currency conversion fees, as shown in the image.
It seems pretty good. Compared to having cards blocked in mainland China, this exchange rate and transaction fee are very suitable for small purchases.
Zabank's Activities#
In addition to being able to spend Hong Kong dollars, Zabank also has many activities within the app. For example, they have their own cryptocurrency called Zacoin. When you first bind your account, they give you 500 coins worth 5 HKD, and you can receive coins every day by checking in. Additionally, Zacoin can be exchanged for Hong Kong dollars (HKD) at any time, or you can use Zacoin to redeem certain benefits.
Benefits redemption page
Of course, you can also directly convert it to Hong Kong dollars for spending.
For now, I think this account is pretty good. I'm just not sure if there will be risk control measures for withdrawals in Hong Kong. If anyone knows, please let me know. There are more features that you can explore after applying for an account yourself.
Registration link:
Up to 6.6% p.a. fixed deposit interest rate is waiting for you!
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💛 Fully online account opening, no need to visit a branch, you can open a bank account anytime, anywhere
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Use my exclusive invitation code [HP4DC7] to successfully open an account in Hong Kong and enjoy up to 6.6% p.a. HKD fixed deposit interest rate!
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