Wallets/za-bank
ZA Bank
0 standards supported
Overview
ZA Bank is Hong Kong's first virtual bank to launch + first HK digital bank to surpass 1 million users [1, 2, hk-cro]. H1 2025 milestones:
- 1+ million users (first HK digital bank milestone)
- Highest customer deposits + net profit among HK's 8 digital banks (June 30, 2025)
- First profitable HK digital bank: H1 2025 profit HK$49 million
- Customer deposits: HK$21.1 billion (~$2.7B; +8.8% YoY)
- Card transactions: +33% YoY
- Total transaction amount (incl. remittance + FX): +132% YoY
- Wealth management AUM: +125% YoY in H1 2025
Distinctive ZA Bank positioning [3]:
- ZhongAn Technologies International Group parent (subsidiary of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance — China's first online-only insurer co-founded by Ant + Tencent + Ping An).
- HKMA Virtual Bank license — Hong Kong's first virtual-bank-license issued (March 2019; service launch March 2020).
History
March 2019 — HKMA Virtual Bank license granted (one of HK's first 8 virtual bank licensees).
March 2020 — ZA Bank service launches [2]: HK's first virtual bank to operationally launch.
2021-2024 — Mass HK adoption [1]: Multi-hundred-thousand user growth.
H1 2025 — 1M+ users (HK digital bank first) + first profit HK$49M + deposits HK$21.1B + card tx +33% + total tx +132% + wealth AUM +125% YoY [3, 4].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: ZA Bank Limited.
Parent: ZhongAn Technologies International Group — subsidiary of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Company Limited (HKEX: 6060) (China's first online-only insurer; co-founded by Ant Group + Tencent + Ping An Insurance).
Regulators: HKMA (Hong Kong Monetary Authority) — HK Virtual Bank license.
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | ZA Bank mobile app (iOS + Android) + ZA Bank Visa cards |
| Identifiers | Phone + email + card number + HKID (Hong Kong Identity Card) |
| HK rail | [[fps-hk]] (Faster Payment System) |
| License | HKMA HK Virtual Bank license (Mar 2019 grant; Mar 2020 launch) |
| Sub-products | ZA Bank Account + ZA Bank Cards + ZA Bank Wealth Management + ZA Bank International Remittance + ZA Bank FX + ZA Bank Loans |
| 2025 milestones | 1M+ users + first profit + HK$21.1B deposits + +33% card tx + +132% total tx + +125% wealth AUM YoY |
Users & growth
- Users: 1+ million (HK digital bank first to surpass)
- H1 2025 profit: HK$49 million (first-ever profit)
- Customer deposits: HK$21.1 billion (~$2.7B; +8.8% YoY)
- Card transactions YoY: +33%
- Total transaction amount YoY (incl. remittance + FX): +132%
- Wealth management AUM YoY in H1 2025: +125%
Use cases
HK retail digital banking (deposits + cards + loans + wealth management); ZA Bank Visa cards + +33% card tx YoY; international remittance + FX (+132% total tx YoY); wealth management +125% AUM YoY in H1 2025; HK's largest virtual bank by deposits + net profit.
Implementations & partners
Operator: ZA Bank Limited.
Parent: ZhongAn Technologies International Group — subsidiary of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance (HKEX: 6060).
ZhongAn co-founders (parent context): Ant Group + Tencent + Ping An Insurance — distinctive Chinese-fintech-mega-trio co-founded parent.
Major Hong Kong virtual bank competitors:
- Mox Bank (Standard Chartered-backed; 600,000+ customers mid-2025)
- [[welab-bank]] (WeLab; ~500,000 users mid-2025; first profit H1 2025 too)
- Livi Bank (BOC HK + JD.com + Jardine Matheson JV)
- Airstar Bank (Xiaomi + AMTD JV)
- Ant Bank (HK) (Ant Group HK virtual bank)
- Ping An OneConnect Bank (Ping An-backed)
- Fusion Bank (Tencent + ICBC + Hillhouse JV)
Regulator: HKMA.
Fun facts
- Hong Kong's first virtual bank to operationally launch (March 2020).
- First HK digital bank to surpass 1 million users (H1 2025).
- First HK virtual bank to achieve profitability — H1 2025 HK$49M profit.
- ZhongAn Technologies International Group parent — subsidiary of ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance.
- ZhongAn co-founded by Ant Group + Tencent + Ping An Insurance — distinctive Chinese-fintech-mega-trio.
- H1 2025 milestones: Deposits HK$21.1B (~$2.7B; +8.8% YoY) + card tx +33% + total tx +132% + wealth AUM +125% YoY.
- HK's largest digital bank by deposits + net profit (June 30, 2025).
Comparison
| Feature | ZA Bank | [[welab-bank]] (HK virtual bank rival) | Mox Bank (Standard Chartered-backed HK rival) | Ant Bank (HK) (Ant Group HK rival) | [[boursobank]] (FR digital bank analogous) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | ZA Bank Limited (ZhongAn Technologies International Group; ZhongAn HKEX: 6060) | WeLab Bank (WeLab pan-Asian fintech) | Mox Bank (Standard Chartered-backed) | Ant Bank HK (Ant Group HK subsidiary) | BoursoBank (Société Générale wholly-owned) |
| Type | HK first virtual bank to operationally launch + 1st HK digital bank with 1M+ users + 1st HK virtual bank profitable | HK virtual bank + pan-Asian WeLab fintech 70M individual users | HK virtual bank Standard Chartered-backed | HK virtual bank Ant Group HK | FR #1 digital bank Société Générale wholly-owned |
| Country | Hong Kong | Hong Kong + WeLab pan-Asian | Hong Kong | HK + AlipayHK ecosystem | France |
| Users | 1M+ (H1 2025; HK first to surpass) + HK$21.1B deposits (+8.8% YoY) | ~500K HK + 70M pan-Asian WeLab | ~600K HK | Smaller HK | 8.8M FR end-Dec 2025 |
| Profitability | First HK virtual bank profitable; H1 2025 HK$49M profit | First profit H1 2025 (HK$460M H1 2025 net revenue; +70% YoY) | Not yet profitable | Smaller scale | Profitable |
| Distinctive | ZhongAn Insurance HKEX: 6060 parent; co-founded by Ant + Tencent + Ping An; H1 2025 card tx +33% + total tx +132% + wealth AUM +125% YoY | WeLab pan-Asian 70M users; 11% HK unsecured personal loan market share | Standard Chartered-anchored | AlipayHK ecosystem | 8M July 2025 milestone 18mo ahead of plan |
Status
Active, Hong Kong's first virtual bank + first HK digital bank to surpass 1M users + first profitable HK virtual bank [1, 4]:
- ZA Bank Limited (ZhongAn Technologies International Group) since March 2020 (HKMA Virtual Bank license Mar 2019).
- H1 2025: 1M+ users + first profit HK$49M + deposits HK$21.1B (~$2.7B; +8.8% YoY) + card tx +33% + total tx +132% + wealth AUM +125% YoY.
- ZhongAn parent (HKEX: 6060) co-founded by Ant + Tencent + Ping An.
- HK's largest digital bank by deposits + net profit (June 30, 2025).
- HKMA regulated.
Sources
- 1 ZA Bank — official
- 2 ZA Bank HK first digital bank 1M users — FF News
- 3 ZA Bank H1 2025 profitability — Fintech HK
- 4 ZA Bank first HK digital lender 1M users — The Digital Banker
- hk-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/HK-hong-kong.md
Source
Biography extracted from za-bank.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.