Bank of China Hong Kong HSBC Card Application and Account Opening Guide

Why Open a Bank Account in Hong Kong?#

The biggest benefit of opening an account in Hong Kong is asset freedom. Hong Kong has no foreign exchange controls and is a free port, which means that all currencies in the world can circulate and be exchanged freely in Hong Kong. A journey of a thousand miles begins in Hong Kong; "whether or not" is more important than "how good."

What I Brought#

Address proof: A credit card statement from China Merchants Bank as address proof, obtained using the "掌上生活" App, must be from the most recent month.

The method to obtain it is as follows
Investment experience proof: Two documents issued by Alipay as proof of investment experience, obtained using the "支付宝" App. After clicking the last step, Alipay has two sections: asset proof and transaction details; both are required.

I really haven't bought stocks, so I used Alipay's documents. Logically, a broker's investment monthly statement is a more reliable choice, but ensure that the information on this document can prove that this is your investment (such as ID number, name). The Alipay document has the name and ID number, and also has a seal, which is quite formal.
The method to obtain it is as follows
Tax records: Used to prove income sources, obtained using the "个人所得税" App, select a time range of one year.

The method to obtain it is as follows
Salary bank statement: Ask the bank of your salary card to print out the salary portion of the statement to prove the legality of your income.
Hong Kong dollar cash; HSBC does not require a specific amount to be deposited, just some amount, while Bank of China Hong Kong requires a deposit of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars.
ID card and Hong Kong-Macau travel permit.
Entry ticket: When entering Hong Kong, the gate/official will give you a small white ticket.
A mobile phone and SIM card that can receive SMS in Hong Kong. The simplest and most effective way is to call your carrier's customer service and tell them you are going abroad, confirming whether your phone number can receive SMS abroad. They will help you confirm whether international roaming services are enabled. If you find that your communication seems abnormal after arriving in Hong Kong (especially in more remote areas, not just at the border), first try restarting your phone. If that doesn't work, find a mall/store/bank to use Wi-Fi and contact your carrier's online customer service for assistance.

Appointment#

Unless you are standing there waiting for the bank to open early in the morning, you must make an appointment. A successful appointment means you have a high service priority within a 30-minute window around your appointment time, basically ensuring that if no one is scheduled before you, you will be next.

During my visit to the bank, I specifically noted the waiting times for some walk-in customers.

At HSBC at 11:00, someone took a number, and the lobby manager told him that he might need to wait 3 hours for that number.

At Bank of China Hong Kong at 13:32, I manually took a number and got number 90, while the current calling was at number 30+.

So, it is essential to make an appointment.

Branch Selection#

HSBC: Yuen Long Branch

Appointment Link
Since HSBC allows appointments 30 days in advance, make sure to book HSBC first, and then schedule Bank of China Hong Kong based on HSBC's appointment date.

Bank of China Hong Kong: Yuen Long Ching Shan Road Branch

Appointment Link
Appointments can be made 7 days in advance.
Bank of China Hong Kong Appointment Strategy: Use the web version to make an appointment instead of the mini-program. Enter the appointment page 2 minutes early (not too early; if you open the webpage too long in advance, the final submission may fail, and re-entering the information may not allow you to select your desired time).

First select the type of document, click "Continue" to jump to the information filling page, fill in the basic information above (it is recommended to complete this step by 23:59).

Before 00:00, the appointment date, appointment time, and branch area cannot be selected because they may have already been fully booked. We need to rush to grab the next day's number immediately after 00:00. You can switch back and forth between the options in the image below after 00:00 to refresh the new day's numbers instead of refreshing the webpage, which is slower. (For programmers: The data in the select below is obtained when the radio above changes, ensure to change it after 00:00 to initiate a new day's request, and you can select the next day's appointment the fastest).

These two banks are located directly across the street from each other, very close.

After successfully booking the bank appointment, take a screenshot and save it on your phone to show to the staff later. Especially the QR code from HSBC, which needs to be scanned on-site.

Recommended Apps to Download in Advance#

HSBC HK Mobile Banking (HSBC's App)
BOCHK Bank of China Hong Kong (Bank of China Hong Kong's App)
BoC Pay (an app similar to Alipay from Bank of China Hong Kong, not very useful, but the bank will guide you to use it)
ZA Bank (Zhong An Bank, a virtual bank that can apply for a physical Visa card, which looks quite nice)
Tiansheng Bank (a virtual bank with a good exchange rate between Hong Kong dollars and Renminbi)
LongBridge (for investing in Hong Kong stocks)
Citymapper (for navigation, can be used once you exit the border)
OpenRice (the Hong Kong version of Dianping)

Itinerary#

After crossing the border, most of the navigation is handled by the "Citymapper" app, which has a somewhat rough interface but is very useful.

We made our appointment for Friday, with HSBC at 11:00 and Bank of China Hong Kong at 14:00.

Both branches are in Yuen Long, so we arrived in Shenzhen on Thursday afternoon and found a place to stay near the border, planning to head to Shenzhen Bay Port on Friday.

On Friday morning, we set off from Shenzhen Bay Port (remember to select "Exit" at Shenzhen Bay Port on Amap; I didn't select this and it directed me to an office building XD).

Following the crowd, we entered the border area, entered Hong Kong, kept the small white ticket safe, and upon exiting, we found the bus station.

The route I took was "B2P" - "Tuen Ma Line." The bus station after passing through B2P is easy to find, with a double-decker bus every 15 minutes. After taking B2P, I rode one stop to "Tiansheng Garden," got off at the MTR station "Tin Shui Wai," took the MTR one stop to "Long Ping," and then walked to HSBC. This process took us about 32 minutes. However, if calculating travel time, I recommend using the worst-case scenario, meaning you assume you are unlucky and just miss the bus, which would take about 50 minutes.

The back of the "B2P" bus station has a WeChat mini-program QR code for the bus ride, which you can scan to use (this is not the domestic "乘车码" mini-program, but the "搭車碼" mini-program). If you want to activate it in advance, send this text to your WeChat file transfer assistant and click it to open. #小程序:// 搭車碼 / 1u3lyPjD4fLSzst

In Hong Kong, you need to manually press the bell for the driver to know you want to get off; if you don't press the bell, they won't stop. However, there will definitely be a lot of people getting off at the first stop of B2P, so you don't need to worry about that.

Upon arriving at HSBC, I found it was still early. The staff checked our 11:00 appointment and asked us to come at 10:45 to scan the QR code to take a number (they scan the QR code you saved from your appointment screenshot). While waiting, I connected to the bank's Wi-Fi and completed the ZA Bank and Tiansheng applications, just to check if my SIM card was receiving SMS normally.

There is a small pitfall here; for ZA Bank and Tiansheng, you need to be located in Hong Kong to open an account. Some friends reported that if the branch you visit is in a more remote area of Hong Kong (like Tin Shui Wai), you may not be able to open an account and need to walk towards the center of Hong Kong. The two branches we chose did not have this issue.

After completing the cards in the morning, we found a place called "Ju Sheng Ice Room" on OpenRice (the Hong Kong version of Dianping) to have a meal. After eating, we sat for a while and continued to Bank of China Hong Kong to open an account.

Arriving at Bank of China Hong Kong, it was still relatively early; I remember it was 13:32, and it was crowded inside. I tried to take a number and got number 90, while they were only calling number 30+. I was secretly glad we made an appointment. I asked the staff, and they confirmed my online appointment for 14:00. After checking the documents, they asked, "xxx, right?" I said yes, and they said, "Okay, scan this QR code and fill in the information." This actually started the account opening process. After filling in the information, I was handed over to another colleague who would complete the subsequent work. Bank of China Hong Kong asked many more questions, and the detailed account opening process will be written later.

The key card application process actually ends here. With an appointment, half a day is enough, leaving enough time between the two bank appointments to avoid delays from the first bank affecting the second bank's processing. If you miss five numbers, you lose your priority.

HSBC Card Application Process#

After scanning the appointment QR code, there will be a Cantonese calling number. Fortunately, my friend speaks Cantonese and pushed me into the designated processing room. If you don't understand Cantonese, please keep an eye on the electronic calling board.

Starting the account opening, the questions asked during the process depend on the staff member handling your case.

"Please show your ID document" — I: (taking out my ID card, Hong Kong-Macau travel permit, small white ticket)

"What is the account for?" — I: "I plan to use it for investing in Hong Kong stocks."

"Give me your address" — I: (taking out address proof) — "No need, just tell me."

"Please complete this test" — it is a questionnaire similar to an investor risk tolerance assessment. Since I want to invest, I must select some more aggressive options. Although I said I would invest in Hong Kong stocks, I actually selected all capital preservation options, which is not acceptable.

Then there were some personal information questions, which I answered truthfully, such as my workplace, what the company does, and my position.

I signed a few documents.

The card was issued.

The entire process was operated on a tablet by the staff and took a total of over 30 minutes. I felt a bit uncomfortable staring at them, so I took out my phone to play. The whole process was quite smooth; perhaps the staff saw me pull out a large amount of materials and were too lazy to ask. However, my friend also had an 11:00 appointment at HSBC, and it seemed that he didn't have as easy a time; they even asked him, "Which Hong Kong stock are you planning to buy?" and "How much do you plan to invest in stocks?"

The password for the HSBC card is randomly assigned by default. If you want to change the password, you need to do it the next day at an ATM (after 00:00).

Bank of China Hong Kong Card Application Process#

First, I handed her my ID card, Hong Kong-Macau travel permit, and small white ticket.

She requested a paper address proof, and I first provided the paper version of the China Merchants Bank credit card statement. She asked to see the PDF version in my email and verified that the sender's email was indeed from China Merchants Bank, checking that the PDF and paper version were identical.

She looked at the paper salary statement and the tax proof obtained from the personal income tax app, confirming my work information (actually, she didn't require this proof; generally, verbal confirmation is sufficient, but I used these two documents for stability).

"Do you have any stock trading experience?" — "I have no stock trading experience, but I have bought funds on Alipay; here are the two Alipay-generated documents." (I handed over the two documents generated by Alipay; since I regularly invested in funds, there were many transactions, and she looked at them very carefully.)

"Why did you choose Hong Kong stocks?" — "I chose Hong Kong stocks not because of the recent surges (to prove I am not speculating but investing), but because I am optimistic about Hong Kong stocks' xxxxx (not easy to write out, just praise it)."

"How do you plan to buy Hong Kong stocks?" — "I previously learned that LongBridge can be used to buy stocks; I just downloaded it and haven't registered yet. If I can successfully get the card, I will also look into how to use our bank's app for these operations to see which is more convenient."

"What is your monthly income? Are you married? Do your total assets exceed 360,000?" (My friend was directly asked how much assets he had, but we were not asked to verify assets.)

After finishing some personal information questions, the card was issued, and I was handed over to another employee who taught me how to use the Bank of China app — BOCHK Bank of China Hong Kong and BoC Pay.

After the card was issued, I received a receipt with the card number, and I needed to deposit money at the ATM first. The first deposit can only be done by manually entering the number; inserting the card is not recognized. I deposited 1,000 Hong Kong dollars. Then I withdrew the card.

After waiting for a while, we went to a nearby restroom and returned to the ATM. I inserted the card, checked the balance, and withdrew the card, completing the entire process. Why did we go to the restroom? Because after depositing, if you check immediately, the card is not recognized; perhaps the backend needs time to update. It takes about 3 to 5 minutes in between.

ZA Bank, Tiansheng, HSBC Blue Lion, LongBridge#

ZA Bank and Tiansheng require you to be located in Hong Kong to open an account, and you need to be in the core area of Hong Kong to do so.

Core areas are as follows

ZA Bank is purely for its card, which looks nice. You need to apply in the app after passing the review and pay a shipping fee of 35 Hong Kong dollars, shipped from Zhuhai. It is a Visa debit card (consider it a supplement to the Hong Kong Visa card).

Tiansheng Bank has a good exchange rate between Hong Kong dollars and Renminbi, owned by Xiaomi, and can serve as a transit point. It only has an account without a card (in mainland China, we refer to a bank card as an account number; in Hong Kong, the account number is the account number, and the card number is separate).

HSBC Blue Lion is a Mastercard debit card from HSBC for consumption. The HSBC Red Lion card we applied for is not suitable for online purchases because it does not have a CVV. After obtaining the Red Lion card, you can apply for the Blue Lion card directly in the app without any thresholds (App homepage - Debit Card - First Blue Lion - Apply). It is shipped quickly from Shenzhen via EMS, and having this card makes online shopping more convenient, as it deducts money from your account.

If you need to invest in Hong Kong or US stocks, I now recommend Interactive Brokers, a US brokerage established for over 40 years, with better rates than those filled with affiliates like LongBridge, Futu, and Tiger Brokers. You can open an account with just your Chinese identity, and you can find a tutorial at home to open it slowly without needing to be in Hong Kong.

A Tip#

If Bank of China Hong Kong asks you to choose between "自在理财" or "智盈理财" accounts, please choose the latter, "智盈理财." Choosing this option allows you to apply for a Mastercard debit card in the app, which is more convenient than the Blue Lion.

Using an image from Luo Lei's blog, we will eventually obtain these cards.

I hope this helps you.

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