Nearly 2 in 5 HK adults will have virtual bank accounts by 2026

A total of 2,051,387 adults is projected to be virtual bank owners in five years.

The number of adults in Hong Kong with virtual bank accounts will rise to more than two million (32%) within a five-year period, a report showed.

Independent comparison platform Finder.com, in its report, said only 18% or 1,134,673 adults have virtual bank accounts at present.

This number is expected to 1,596,235 by 2022 and 2,051,387 by 2026.

Hong Kong’s projected growth rate in digital-only banking adoption—4 percentage points—is “faster than global average” of 11 percentage points, according to Finder’s global fintech editor, Elizabeth Barry.

Barry said HK is also ahead in terms of the number of licensed and operating digital banks in the Asian region.

The city is also expected to jump to number 10 in Finder’s virtual banking adoption by market rankings by 2026.

Currently, Hong Kong ranks 14th among 30 countries worldwide in terms of virtual banking adoption rate.