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Banks in Hong Kong are licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, which now calls the former virtual banks digital banks. Deposit protection is a separate statutory scheme run by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board. Since 1 October 2024 it has protected deposits up to HK$800,000 per depositor per Scheme member. Company accounts are covered, as are deposits in any currency at a member’s Hong Kong offices, with compensation paid in Hong Kong dollars. All eight digital banks are on the Board’s list of Scheme members; a money service operator such as Airwallex is not a bank and sits outside the scheme.
HKMA’s due diligence FAQ, last updated in May 2017, is explicit. Applications should not be rejected merely because a company is incorporated offshore or because its beneficial owners or directors are non-residents, which HKMA calls common profiles in an international financial centre. A corporate account is normally opened by one authorised individual, and HKMA does not require two or more, or all, directors or beneficial owners to be present. Nor does it require a business address in Hong Kong.
A March 2023 HKMA page lists practices banks should avoid: requiring all directors and beneficial owners of an overseas corporate to attend, insisting that all of its documents be certified in Hong Kong, expecting a business registration certificate from every applicant or a Hong Kong office from every overseas corporate regardless of business model, and making a large initial deposit or the purchase of investment or insurance products a condition of opening.
Guidance is not a product. The routes banks actually publish are built mostly around the Hong Kong Identity Card and the Mainland Resident Identity Card:
| Provider | Type | Owners without an HKID or Mainland ID | How you apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSBC | Licensed bank | Mobile opening also accepts directors and signatories with a passport from Australia, Belgium, Canada, India, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, the USA or Vietnam, for companies operating in Hong Kong or mainland China with no corporate shareholders or directors and at most two connected individuals. | App, possibly with a video or face-to-face check; otherwise a Business Centre appointment |
| Hang Seng Bank | Licensed bank | Its fastest route, 3 to 5 business days, needs every connected party to be an HKID holder in Hong Kong. Hang Seng says other applications take 2 to 3 weeks. | Online application platform |
| DBS Bank (Hong Kong) | Licensed bank | Its April 2026 notice covers fast routes for Hong Kong permanent ID and Mainland ID holders only. | Online for those profiles |
| Bank of China (Hong Kong) | Licensed bank | A designated branch and hotline for overseas enterprises, listed by HKMA. | Bank of China Tower branch |
| ZA Bank | Digital bank | Online only if every shareholder and director holds an HKID. Otherwise a relationship manager route, with directors and authorised signatories signing in Hong Kong. | Online, or in person |
| livi, Fusion Bank, Ele Bank | Digital banks | All account users or connected parties must hold an HKID or a Mainland ID. | Online; Ele Bank may require witnessing in Hong Kong |
| Ant Bank, Ping An Digital Bank | Digital banks | Ant Bank’s SME page asks for a major beneficial owner with an HKID; Ping An’s app opening starts with the applicant’s HKID. | Online |
| Airwallex | Money service operator, not a bank | Passports from any country accepted for owners and authorised persons. | Online |
For a company whose owners hold neither an HKID nor a Mainland ID, none of the eight digital banks publishes an online route; Mox and WeLab offer no business accounts at all. Of the banks above, only HSBC publishes a remote route for holders of other passports; elsewhere, expect a branch or a relationship manager. HKMA’s Simple Bank Account tier does not help either: the versions launched in late 2025 by ICBC (Asia), CCB (Asia) and Bank of Communications are built for locally owned or locally operating start-ups.
Hang Seng’s checklist for a Hong Kong limited company shows what to expect:
Copies are certified by a solicitor, a certified public accountant or an officer of a regulated financial institution in a FATF country. Hang Seng’s 10 per cent test reaches well below the more than 25 per cent threshold of the Significant Controllers Register, which a Hong Kong company keeps at its own office rather than filing with the Companies Registry.
The local currency is the Hong Kong dollar. Domestic transfers run round the clock on the Faster Payment System, launched in September 2018, which handles Hong Kong dollars and renminbi and lets a payer use a mobile number or email address instead of an account number. Hong Kong does not use IBANs: incoming international payments go by SWIFT to the bank’s code with your local account number. Hong Kong is outside SEPA too, so euro payments arrive by SWIFT into a foreign currency account.
Searches for a Hong Kong shelf company with a bank account, or a ready-made Hong Kong company with one, ask for an account that moves with the shares. Legally it does, because the account belongs to the company. In practice the bank runs its due diligence again on the new directors, owners and signatories, and then keeps the account, asks for more documents or closes it. Hong Kong banks have tightened since 2018, so a company with an existing account is a realistic purchase only for a buyer whose profile the bank is likely to accept, and such a sale should be checked with the bank before it is signed. A ready-made company helps even without an account. It already holds its Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate, and age counts in a few criteria, such as Ele Bank’s streamlined route for companies established over a year. It does not supply the operating history Ant Bank looks for. An overseas company, a BVI company for instance, can also apply in Hong Kong: Hang Seng publishes a separate checklist for overseas companies, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) runs a designated branch for overseas enterprises.
We can supply a ready-made Hong Kong company or carry out company formation in Hong Kong, and help prepare the bank application. The decision is the bank’s, and no one can promise approval. See also our Hong Kong jurisdiction page, the shelf companies with bank accounts overview and the Singapore business bank account guide.
Yes. HKMA tells banks not to reject an application merely because a company’s directors or beneficial owners are non-residents. HSBC’s mobile opening accepts passports from 14 listed countries and territories for eligible companies, while the digital banks and the fast online routes at Hang Seng and DBS require a Hong Kong Identity Card or a Mainland ID.
HKMA does not require all directors or beneficial owners to be present, and one authorised person can normally open the account. HSBC’s remote route may use a video call or a face-to-face check, ZA Bank’s offline route needs directors and authorised signatories to sign in Hong Kong, and Ele Bank may ask for witnessing in Hong Kong.
On their published criteria, none of the eight offers an online route for owners who hold neither a Hong Kong Identity Card nor a Mainland ID. The six with business accounts build onboarding around those documents; Mox and WeLab have none. ZA Bank’s relationship manager route accepts shareholders abroad, but directors and signatories sign in Hong Kong.
Sometimes, for the right buyer. The account belongs to the company and stays with it, but the bank re-runs its checks on the new directors, beneficial owners and signatories and can keep the account, ask for more documents or close it. Expect the bank to ask for the stamped instrument of transfer and the bought and sold notes, because the new shareholding will not yet appear on the company’s NNC1 or NAR1, plus Form ND2A for the new directors.
Yes. The Deposit Protection Scheme covers company accounts up to HK$800,000 per depositor per Scheme member, the limit since 1 October 2024. Deposits in Hong Kong dollars, renminbi and other currencies at a member’s Hong Kong offices count, with compensation paid in Hong Kong dollars. Structured deposits, time deposits over five years and deposits booked at overseas branches are excluded.
Ask for the reasons, which HKMA says banks should in general provide, and use the bank’s review mechanism to have the application re-examined. You can apply to another bank, and raise the case with HKMA through accountopening@hkma.gov.hk. Before reapplying, check which of the bank’s published criteria the application missed.