Hong Kong’s ZA Bank Offers Crypto Conversions and Accounts

Hong Kong’s biggest virtual bank ZA Bank is pushing into transfers of crypto and fiat currencies and will provide account services for the city’s burgeoning digital asset sector.

ZA Bank will offer token-to-fiat currency conversions over licensed exchanges, Ronald Iu, the lender's chief executive officer, said in an interview Tuesday. ZA will act as a settlement bank for clients to allow withdrawals in Hong Kong, China and US currencies after they deposit crypto tokens with exchanges, Iu said.

The business model is already in operation with HashKey and OSL, the only two currently licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong, Iu said. ZA Bank will also provide the same service for other exchanges as they become licensed.

ZA Bank is offering online accounts opening for local Web3 start-ups and small-medium enterprises. The bank linked up to the city’s company registry data, allowing for minimal information input and cross-checking, according to Devon Sin, alternate chief executive of ZA Bank.

ZA Bank currently only plans to engage licensed exchanges and conducts AML scrutiny against the usual checklists to satisfy the regulatory requirements.

The lender does not offer services for clients from mainland China given the restrictions in place there, according to Iu.

The virtual lender does not expect it will need to boost its headcount to handle the crypto client push, Iu said.

(Source: Bloomberg)