ZA Bank Review: The Account, Savings Pot Rates, ZA Card, Fees and the Real Value of the HK$2,000 Welcome Vouchers

ZA Bank (ZA Bank Limited, formerly ZhongAn Virtual Finance Limited) was granted a licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on 27 March 2019 to operate as a virtual bank, and opened for business on 24 March 2020. The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of ZhongAn Financial Services Limited, which is jointly controlled by ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and Z Fin Limited.

According to the bank's 2025 interim financial disclosure, published on the HKMA website, it recorded its first interim net profit, of about HK$49 million, in the first half of 2025; the bank's website states that it had more than one million users as at 30 June 2025. ZA Bank is a member of the Deposit Protection Scheme, which protects up to HK$800,000 per depositor at each member bank; funds, stocks and virtual assets are not deposits and are not protected.

Receiving and sending money via FPS, CHATS and Cross-boundary Payment Services is entirely free; inward SWIFT remittances, and SWIFT remittances to other local banks, are also exempt from fees. The account has no maintenance fee. The savings account supports 11 currencies, namely the Hong Kong dollar, renminbi, US dollar, pound sterling, Singapore dollar, euro, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Japanese yen, New Zealand dollar and Swiss franc, which can be exchanged in the app at any time; the bank has not published its exchange spread, and the actual rate is the one displayed at the time of the transaction.

There are two ways to remit money overseas. Outward SWIFT remittances are currently free of handling fees, although correspondent and beneficiary banks may charge separately; from 1 November 2026, each remittance costs HK$70. Remittances through Wise incur Wise's fee plus a ZA Bank convenience fee of up to 2%, with the actual amount as quoted on the transaction page. Customers who remit overseas regularly should compare the total cost of the two routes before November.

The basic interest rate on the savings account is low: 0.01% p.a. for Hong Kong dollars and 0.001% for US dollars (rates as at 24 July 2026). Interest on Hong Kong dollars, pounds sterling and Singapore dollars is calculated on a 365-day year, and on other currencies on a 360-day year.

Higher rates come from the Savings Pot sub-accounts. The High-Rate Pot requires monthly challenges to be completed (such as daily transactions and daily step counts); the challenge reward rate is up to 4.99% p.a., which together with the basic rate of 0.01% p.a. gives a maximum of 5%, and the reward applies from the day the challenge is completed until the last day of that month. The eligible deposit amount depends on the customer's ZA Perks level, as shown in the app. The Chill Pot requires no challenges: Lv 1 users earn 0.5% p.a. on deposits of HK$1,000,000 or less. Savings Pot balances cannot be used directly for ZA Card spending, bill payments, repayments or transfers to third parties.

Time deposits are available in Hong Kong dollars, renminbi and US dollars, from HK$1, with terms from 7 days to 12 months; rates are as shown in the app. Early withdrawal incurs the higher of: principal × (interbank rate − time deposit rate) × remaining days ÷ days in the year, or HK$200.

The bank also offers Money Safe: customers can lock part of their funds, which then cannot be transferred out through any channel. To unlock them, customers must verify their identity in person at a ZA Bank office, and processing takes time, so it suits only funds that will not be needed for a long period.

ZA Card is a Visa debit card: spending is debited directly from the savings account, and there is no annual fee. Customers can choose the last 6 digits of the card number, and the CVV and expiry date are not printed on the card. It supports Apple Pay and Google Pay; online purchases must be confirmed in the app, every transaction triggers an instant notification, and the card can be locked in the app. The physical card allows free withdrawals at over 3,000 bank ATMs across Hong Kong; where local and overseas withdrawals in the same calendar month exceed HK$80,000 in total, 1% is charged on the excess.

StockBack is ZA Card's share rebate programme: each eligible purchase of HK$10 or more earns one chance, and you must choose 1 of the 6 US stocks listed on the page within 48 hours. The rebate is normally 1% of the purchase amount, and 1.5% from 1 February to 31 December 2026; shares are redeemed every Monday, with no redemption or custody fee. Customers must hold a valid investment account and activate the relevant trading service within 90 days of making their choice, or the rebate is forfeited; the same purchase also cannot take part in other promotions involving ZA Coin (such as PowerDraw).

New customers receive an extra 1% on their first HK$10,000 of spending within 30 days of opening an account (the account-opening day counts as day 1); those who open an account through the referral programme receive a further 0.5%, for a maximum of 3% in total. StockBack must be selected as the rebate before spending; if a single purchase exceeds the remaining amount eligible for the rebate, that entire purchase does not receive the extra 0.5%.

Foreign currency spending is charged 1.95% (1% by Visa and 0.95% by ZA Bank); Hong Kong dollar transactions processed by an overseas merchant or acquirer incur the same 1.95%. Each overseas withdrawal costs a further HK$50 plus 1.95%. The 1.5% rebate does not offset the 1.95% foreign currency fee, so frequent travellers should carry a separate card that charges no foreign currency fee.

The app offers trading in Hong Kong stocks, US stocks, funds and virtual assets, and the website lists more than 6,000 US stocks and 3,000 ETFs. ZA Bank handles instructions as an agent, and the investment products are provided by third parties.

US stocks are commission-free, with a platform fee of US$0.0099 per share, a minimum of US$1.99 per order and a cap of 1.5% of the trade value; sales also incur US regulatory fees. The platform fee for Hong Kong stocks is 0.05% of the trade value, with a minimum of HK$18 per order, plus 0.1% stamp duty (any fraction of a dollar counted as a whole dollar), the SFC transaction levy, the Exchange trading fee, the settlement fee and the AFRC transaction levy (about 0.0127% of the trade value in total). Neither market carries a custody fee, but buy orders for less than one share (US stocks) or less than one board lot (Hong Kong stocks) are not currently accepted.

Fund charges follow each fund's offering documents; the website states that money market funds currently carry no subscription fee and other funds a subscription fee of 0.5%. The platform fee for virtual assets is 0.8% of the trade value. Investment involves risk: product prices may go down as well as up, and past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Everyday use is largely free, but fees apply in the following cases: 1.95% on ZA Card foreign currency spending and on Hong Kong dollar transactions processed overseas; HK$50 plus 1.95% for each overseas withdrawal; HK$50 for a replacement card; HK$100 per transaction dispute; HK$35 each time a card is posted to an address outside Hong Kong; HK$50 per paper monthly statement; and HK$250 per bank certificate.

The bank has announced two changes taking effect on 1 November 2026: outward SWIFT remittances overseas change from free to HK$70 each; and if 10 or more transactions fail in the same calendar month because of insufficient funds in the savings account (including scheduled transfers, eDDA debits, withdrawals and ZA Card transactions), a one-off charge of HK$120 applies, the threshold being lowered from the current 15 transactions. Customers who do not accept the changes may terminate the relevant services before the effective date.

The early withdrawal fee for time deposits is at least HK$200, which matters particularly for short-term rate-up deposits: HK$50,000 deposited for 7 days earns only about HK$192 in interest even at 20% p.a., so withdrawing it early costs more than it earns.

The referral programme runs from 10 September to 18 November 2026 (Hong Kong time, both days inclusive) and is open only to people who have never opened a bank account with ZA Bank and have never held any ZA Bank product (including deposit and loan accounts); you must be in Hong Kong when opening the account and pass the bank's account-opening checks. Enter invite code PJ3Y13 when opening the account, or open the link with the code attached through the button on this page. Each person may use an invite code only once, and the bank may also set daily quotas or limits on the number of redemptions.

A successful account opening brings ten vouchers (see below). Three further conditions must be met within 14 days of opening the account, the day after opening counting as day 1. First, a single deposit equivalent to HK$1,000 or more earns a +19.9% seven-day Hong Kong dollar new funds time deposit rate-up coupon, with new funds capped at HK$20,000. Second, a day-end total account balance of HK$1,000 on any one day, while holding deposits, funds and stocks on that same day, earns a second +19.9% rate-up coupon, capped at HK$50,000. Third, reaching a day-end stock value of HK$10,000, funds of HK$100,000 or deposits of HK$200,000, and maintaining it for a cumulative 14 days (not necessarily consecutive) within 30 days of opening the account, earns a US$30 Micron Technology (MU) designated US stock redemption coupon, which requires US stock trading to be activated and is valid for 30 days after it is claimed. Each reward must be claimed in ZA Quest within 7 days of the condition being met.

The second and third conditions form the Asset Achievement Reward Plan. The plan that applies is the one the referrer has chosen at the time you enter the invite code: if the referrer switches to the ZA Card Spending Achievement Reward Plan, the referred customer must use one StockBack chance within 14 days to obtain the second rate-up coupon, and there is no Micron stock voucher. As at 11 October 2026, PJ3Y13 uses the Asset Achievement Reward Plan.

Rewards are paid within 30 working days of the conditions being met. If the account is closed or in an abnormal status during the promotion or payment period, the bank may withhold the rewards; if you begin closing the account within 12 months of opening it, the bank may deduct from the account any rewards already paid or due. Disclosure: PJ3Y13 is this site's invite code. If you complete the three conditions above, this site, as referrer, may receive up to HK$550 in cash per person (in three parts of HK$50, HK$300 and HK$200), plus additional rewards based on the cumulative number of referrals.

20% is an annual rate, and the rate-up coupons apply only to 7-day Hong Kong dollar time deposits. Calculated on actual days and a 365-day year, the first coupon used in full on HK$20,000 earns about HK$76.71 in interest, and the second used in full on HK$50,000 about HK$191.78, or about 0.38% of the principal. The same HK$50,000 left in the savings account at 0.01% for 7 days would earn only about HK$0.10.

Three points deserve attention: the rate-up coupons apply only to "new funds", as defined on the coupon; the terms do not say whether both coupons can use the same new funds, and this article assumes they must be counted separately; and each coupon is valid for 7 days after it is claimed, so the time deposit must be placed within that period, while early withdrawal costs at least HK$200, so you must be sure the funds will not be needed for 7 days.

The ten vouchers have a combined face value of HK$2,000; each is valid for 30 days after it is received, and each requires a specified transaction. Fund vouchers require a subscription to be made and held for a specified number of days; stock vouchers apply to a single purchase (excluding transaction fees), and the cash rebate is credited to the savings account within 3 trading days after settlement.

For a typical amount of funds, the smaller vouchers are the easier ones to use: the HK$20 fund voucher, used by subscribing HK$1,000 to a money market fund and holding it for 3 days, is worth about HK$20; the HK$100 Hong Kong stock voucher requires a single purchase of HK$10,000 or more and, after the HK$18 platform fee, HK$10 stamp duty and about HK$1.3 in transaction levies and other charges, is worth about HK$71 net; the HK$60 voucher is worth about HK$40 net if used to buy HK$1,500 of Hong Kong stocks, or about HK$44 if used to buy US$200 of US stocks. These figures exclude the cost of later selling the shares and any movement in share prices.

The larger vouchers suit only those who already have matching plans: the HK$780 fund voucher requires a HK$500,000 subscription held for 39 consecutive days, equivalent to about 1.46% annualised; the HK$340 US stock voucher requires a single purchase of US$40,000. The HK$100 currency exchange voucher requires selling HK$40,000 (or buying US$5,200 / RMB35,000); as the bank has not published its exchange spread, its real value cannot be calculated. The HK$100 overseas remittance voucher requires remitting HK$40,000, and with SWIFT remittances costing HK$70 each from 1 November, its net value falls to about HK$30.

Including the rate-up coupons and the Micron stock voucher outside the pack: assuming you are willing to trade Hong Kong stocks, that the two rate-up coupons can use new funds separately, and an exchange rate of US$1 to HK$7.8, the two rate-up coupons (about HK$268), the HK$20 fund voucher, the HK$100 and HK$60 stock vouchers (about HK$111), plus the Micron stock voucher earned with the same HK$10,000 Hong Kong stock holding (about HK$234), come to about HK$630 in total. Days on which a fall in share prices takes the day-end stock value below HK$10,000 do not count towards the 14 days, so it is prudent to leave a margin when buying.

Each person may use only one invite code, so this referral cannot be combined with the bank's other invite-code opening offers; enter this site's invite code PJ3Y13 when opening the account.

As at 11 October 2026, the ZA Bank app was rated 4.76 on the App Store (Hong Kong), from 58,590 ratings, and 4.57 on Google Play, from 31,097 ratings, with more than 500,000 downloads. The overall ratings are high, but negative reviews have outnumbered positive ones among written reviews over the past year: of the 64 written reviews on the App Store between 11 October 2025 and 5 October 2026, 27 gave one star and 21 gave five stars.

The more common complaints include repeated facial verification at login or being caught in a login loop; the app failing to open on 28 and 29 September 2026; accounts frozen or restricted without explanation; difficulty reaching a human customer service agent; more pop-up advertisements and a more cluttered interface after the 2026 redesign; delays in account approval, or applications cancelled after a verification call was missed; loan rates higher in practice than advertised; and merchants linking to accounts without authorisation.

Opening an account with a Hong Kong identity card requires you to be aged 18 or over and to have your original valid Hong Kong identity card, a Hong Kong phone number able to receive SMS messages and calls, and a valid Hong Kong residential address; visitors to Hong Kong may also open an account while in Hong Kong, under separate requirements listed on the website. You must be within the main urban areas of Hong Kong when applying. The process is as follows: choose the account type, verify your mobile number and enter your email address; photograph your identity card and complete facial recognition; enter your address, occupation, purpose of the account and tax information; and set a username and password. The bank states that the process can take as little as 2 minutes when no further documents are needed, but user reviews mention approval delays, so it is advisable to answer when the bank calls to verify your details.

The official fee schedule lists no charge for closing an account, but this article could not verify the steps for closing an account through official channels; please first enquire through in-app customer service or the hotline on 3665 3665. Before closing, note the following: if you begin closing the account within 12 months of opening it, the bank may deduct the referral rewards; funds locked in Money Safe must be released in person; and any stocks and funds held are best dealt with first.

Suitable for: Hong Kong residents who need free local transfers, multi-currency savings and a debit card with no annual fee; people willing to complete Savings Pot challenges each month in exchange for a higher savings rate; new customers who already intend to trade Hong Kong or US stocks and can make good use of the small stock vouchers; and people who can place HK$20,000 to HK$70,000 of new funds in a 7-day time deposit within 14 days.

Not suitable for: people who want a higher savings rate without completing challenges; people who often spend in foreign currencies or withdraw cash overseas; people who will remit frequently via SWIFT after 1 November; people unwilling to bear stock or fund market risk (most of the voucher pack requires investment); and people who may close the account within 12 months.