Disneyland tickets, tea at Peninsula – Hong Kong banks roll out incentives to attract mainland Chinese customers during National Day ‘golden week’ holiday
Tickets to Disneyland, afternoon tea at The Peninsula and fine dining with wine pairings – these are just some of the incentives with which major Hong Kong banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered plan to woo high-flying mainland Chinese customers visiting the city during the “golden week” holiday.
The holiday, which usually falls around China’s National Day on October 1 and runs from September 28 until October 6 this year, will also coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival. Hong Kong is expected to record a surge in mainland visitors during this eight-day period.
To make the most of this surge, certain branches of Standard Chartered, HSBC, Bank of East Asia (BEA) and China Citic Bank International will open every day during the holiday period – the first National Day golden week holiday after China’s pivot away from its strict zero-Covid policies – for the opening of new bank accounts and sales of wealth management and insurance products.
“The golden week holiday is very important because it is going to bring hundreds and thousands of mainland visitors to Hong Kong,” said Stephen Man Wai-shing, head of consumer, private and business banking at Standard Chartered Hong Kong. “We have prepared staff at our branches and prestige centres to serve these customers.”
The incentives Standard Chartered is offering to select clients include tickets to the theme park at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort as well as shopping vouchers. Its branch at The Wai, a new tourist hotspot in Hong Kong, will remain open throughout the golden week period.
An “internal study underscores a growing appetite among our mainland Chinese customers for various ‘beyond-banking’ services, spanning medical tourism, international education and other unique lifestyle experiences, not only for themselves but also for their family members,” said Brian Hui, head of customer proposition and marketing, wealth and personal banking, at HSBC Hong Kong.
HSBC is offering select clients afternoon tea at The Peninsula. Photo: Handout
HSBC, Hong Kong’s largest bank, will organise a wine-pairing dinner as well as a fireworks show for select wealthy customers on National Day at its wealth centres in Hysan Place in Causeway Bay and K11 Atelier in Tsim Sha Tsui.
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Other incentives that it will offer include afternoon tea at The Peninsula Hong Kong, private viewings at M+ museum, Rosewood Hong Kong-branded mooncakes as well as Covid-19 and HPV vaccinations and doctor’s consultations at the HSBC Life Para-Medical Centre in K11.
Hang Seng Bank will launch a lucky-draw campaign and offer God of Wealth “TinBots” as well as coupons of as much as HK$400 (US$51) as prizes, as well as prestige banking offers to customers during the golden week holiday. It will also showcase a 2-metre tall God of Wealth statue at its main branch in Kowloon.
“Many customers have already made their choice of banks before arriving in Hong Kong, with various consideration factors including branding, product offerings and service quality,” said Maggie Yung, head of treasuries and distribution at DBS Bank (Hong Kong).
The bank will offer some shopping coupons to select customers for use in the city during golden week, but has no plans to open on Sunday during the holiday period.
“We will continue to review our branch servicing hours to better serve our customers according to their needs,” Yung said.
China Citic, which is also offering a wide range of incentives to entice mainland customers during the holiday, will keep its branches in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Causeway Bay and Sha Tin open throughout the eight-day period. BEA will keep its Sheung Shui branch open everyday until October 29.
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