HSBC app now features 'open banking'

June Chen

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation has introduced its first "open banking" feature on the HSBC HK app, enabling users to view their savings and current account information for the Bank of China Hong Kong (2388) and Hang Seng Bank (0011).

The bank said there are 2.2 million active app users and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's interbank account data sharing initiative or IADS will enable the banking industry in the city to further innovate and expand its services.

Earlier, the lender successfully completed the pilot of "open banking" under the framework of IADS in July.

Since October, the app's monthly active users recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. It plans to roll out more features, including expense tracking, wealth planning tools and faster loan approvals, the bank said.

More than 85 percent of interviewees hope the app can offer functions to show their savings in other banks' accounts and nearly 60 percent of users allow the bank to use their accounts information to improve services, according to a survey conducted by HSBC.