Strategy & Practice Management

Hong Kong virtual banking licenses on the horizon

Standard Chartered plans to apply for a “virtual banking” license in Hong Kong, amid a rush to improve digital presence and attract milennials.

The HKMA is expected to start granting licenses to virtual banking platforms toward the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year, it said last month.  Reuters reports that the virtual banking platforms will have no physical branches and are expected to mainly offer retail banking services. 

It was reported that Standard Chartered has set up a task-force to study details of the revised guidelines on the authorisation of virtual banks in Hong Kong.