Hongkongers willing to share financial details to get tailored banking services, survey finds
- More than half of consumers surveyed said they would be willing to share data with developers
- Survey comes as Hong Kong moves forward with open banking push
More than half of Hong Kong consumers are willing to share their financial data with third parties other than their banks to receive more tailored financial services, such as a better mortgage or savings rate, according to a survey by the consulting firm Accenture on Thursday.
The survey comes as the first phase of Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s new initiative – Open Application Interface – went live this week. It allows developers to access bank data to create new integrated banking services in Hong Kong.
It is one of HKMA’s several measures to develop new technology and keep the city’s financial services competitive, such as the faster payment system – that allows instant fund transfers between banks and among payment platforms – introduced last September.
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The first banks in Hong Kong began offering product data on savings and current accounts, mortgages, foreign exchange rates and branch information through the Open API this week, with more coming online later this month.
“Banks still enjoy a lot of trust from consumers, but Hongkongers are willing to share their financial data if they know they’ll get something in return – indicating that the foundations are clearly there for Hong Kong to leapfrog many markets with open banking solutions,” said Fergus Gordon, who heads Accenture’s banking practice in Asia-Pacific and Africa.
By comparison, consumers in Australia and the UK were much less comfortable with sharing their financial information, according to research by Accenture in 2017 and 2018.
Two-thirds of consumers in Australia said they were unwilling to share their data, while 69 per cent of Britons said they would not share their bank account information with third parties.
In Hong Kong, only 16 per cent of consumers surveyed said they would be willing to share their financial data with retailers or online merchants, while 33 per cent said they would be willing to share their data with international and local payment firms.
The online survey of 2,010 consumers in Hong Kong was conducted in November and December, with a sample weighted to reflect the city’s population.
Bank of China Hong Kong is first to allow mobile payments in mainland without a Chinese bank account
Hongkongers are more comfortable with using digital payment services that are more common in mainland China, such as Tencent Holdings’ WePay and Alibaba Group Holding’s Alipay. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
More than two-thirds of Hongkongers surveyed said they used similar digital payment and wallet services at least once a month, according to Accenture.
About 80 per cent of consumers under 35 years old said they use digital wallets monthly, compared with 47 per cent of consumers 55 years old and over, according to the survey.
Security and data privacy were the biggest concerns cited by consumers about granting more open access to banking data to developers, mentioned by 71 per cent of respondents, according to Accenture. About 43 per cent of consumers cited a lack of trust in large tech companies and third-party providers to handle financial data as a major concern.
“The potential for open banking is huge, particularly in Hong Kong, where consumers are so willing and open to sharing their data, but trust will be a key factor in the success of these solutions going forward,” Gordon said.
