Why Opening a Business Bank Account in Hong Kong Is So Difficult

Have you tried opening a business bank account in Hong Kong only to be rejected without any clear explanation? While Hong Kong is definitely one of the world’s most business-friendly hubs, for many entrepreneurs, especially startups and SMEs, opening a bank account can feel anything but friendly.

If you’ve found yourself stuck in a cycle of rejections and months-long waiting times, delaying your operations and missing valuable opportunities, you’re not alone.

In this article, we’ll dive into the root causes of these roadblocks and explore why opening a bank account in Hong Kong is so challenging. More importantly, we’ll share practical solutions to help you get your business banking on track.

There are three main reasons why opening a business bank account in Hong Kong is hard. 

• Compliance reasons: Banks must enforce robust checks to meet anti-money laundering and regulatory obligations. Every application is scrutinised for potential financial crime risks.
• Business reasons: Banks prioritise clients who appear profitable and low-risk. New businesses, certain industries, or unfamiliar business models often face extra scrutiny or outright rejection.
• Operational Challenges: The process can be slow and demanding: expect detailed paperwork, in-person interviews for all directors, and long waiting periods for approval.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these reasons. 

As a global financial hub with a favourable corporate tax regime, Hong Kong attracts businesses from around the world. This high level of international activity increases the risk of financial crime, such as money laundering. To manage this risk and meet international regulatory standards, banks in Hong Kong enforce strict compliance checks. They must carefully assess each application to ensure that new accounts are not used for illegal activities.

These compliance measures include:

• Know Your Customer (KYC): Banks must verify the identity of their clients, understand the nature of their business, assess associated risks, and ensure they are not engaged in illegal activities. This often takes the form of an in-person interview. 
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML): Procedures are in place to detect and prevent money laundering activities. This includes checking where money comes from, monitoring transactions for suspicious patterns, and reporting anything suspicious to the authorities.
• Sanctions Screening: Ensuring that customers or transactions do not involve individuals, entities, or countries under international sanctions.
• Customer Due Diligence (CDD): A deeper investigation into clients, especially high-risk ones, to confirm the legitimacy of their funds and business operations.

If banks fail to follow these compliance measures, they can face severe penalties, including heavy fines, from relevant authorities. As a result, traditional banks would approach every client as a potential risk, often leading to defensive practices like rejecting applications without explanation, closing accounts, or cancelling transactions. However, while these measures are effective in screening customers, they have also been criticised for a lack of customer understanding. 

You may not realise it, but some aspects of your company’s profile could be suspicious from the bank’s compliance perspective, making the account opening process more challenging. 

Being aware of the following factors can help improve your chances of a smoother application process.

1. Your Directors and Shareholders

While Hong Kong welcomes entrepreneurs from all over the world to set up a company, individuals from certain nationalities may face heightened scrutiny due to compliance concerns.

It is best to check the Hong Kong government's website for details on nationalities subject to financial sanctions. Most major banks also provide this information on their websites.

2. Your Industry

Your business’s primary activities and the nature of your company’s industry play a significant role in the bank’s risk assessment. Certain industries are considered high-risk by banks and often face near-automatic rejection. 

These include sectors such as:

Additionally, industries with a reputation for scams, such as telemarketing, multi-level marketing, or timeshare businesses, are often on the blacklist. 

3. Your Company’s Ownership Structure

Banks may closely examine your company’s ownership structure to understand all key stakeholders. A simple structure, where all shareholders are individuals, is generally faster to process.

Complex structures, especially those involving corporate shareholders and multiple layers of entities, require banks to trace each layer to identify the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), the individuals who indirectly hold an interest in the company. This can delay or even prevent approval if the documentation or relationship is incomplete or unclear.

One way to improve your chances of getting a business account approved is to ensure you're prepared with enough documentation and details so that the bank can confirm that your company is operating legally and meets local regulatory standards.

In most cases, this includes:

• Valid company registration documents, such as a Certificate of Incorporation and Business Registration Certificate.
• ID documents for all directors, shareholders, and UBOs, such as HKIDs or passports.
• Proof of address for directors, shareholders, and sometimes the company’s office.
• Details about your company’s business, including where transactions to and from the account will originate.
• Articles of Association, which outline the internal structure and rules within your company 
• Organisational Chart, which outlines the individuals, teams, departments, and connections within a business.

Beyond compliance, banks also evaluate the commercial viability of your business. Being a profit-driven institution, banks may prioritise clients that bring in higher profits. Consequently, certain types of companies may face greater challenges when trying to open an account, including the following

Banks may see startups, SMEs, and companies in their first year of operation as high-effort, low-reward clients. 

New companies usually have minimal operating history, minimal revenue, and uncertain long-term prospects, making it difficult for banks to assess their long-term outlook. They also tend to hold lower balances, generate fewer transactions, and present limited opportunities for banks to cross-sell services like loans, credit facilities, or investment products. 

At the same time, startups often require more attention: they may not have a clear source of funds or the complete documentation needed to satisfy bank requirements, making them appear more prone to financial instability or regulatory complications. From the bank’s perspective, this means more time and resources spent on clients who may not be profitable or stable in the long run. As a result, banks tend to prioritise well-established businesses with steady cash flow, predictable activity, and lower perceived risk.

Some businesses may face challenges not because they are new or financially unstable, but because their business model is unfamiliar to the bank. This is especially common for companies that operate primarily online or use non-traditional methods. Many banks remain risk-averse and prefer working with business structures they understand, as this gives them greater confidence in the company’s profitability.

Unfortunately, banks tend to reject applications outright rather than invest time in understanding new or unconventional business approaches.

This final reason is more of a consequence of compliance and profitability assessments. Strict compliance regulations, combined with banks’ cautious approach to risk, result in practical hurdles such as the following

• Most traditional banks require all company directors to be physically present in Hong Kong for the account opening interview.
• Banks often ask for detailed documents like contracts and sales invoices to understand your business. If your company is new and hasn’t generated revenue yet, providing documents can be difficult.
• During the review process, banks may request additional documents, which can cause delays if you need time to gather them.
• Banks can take weeks or even months to do thorough due diligence. These procedures are also confidential, so it’s hard to know where you stand.
• Compliance rules can change suddenly and vary between banks. Requirements could become stricter during the process, adding unexpected hurdles.
• It’s not uncommon to be rejected more than once. Some banks keep records of past applications, which can make reapplying at the same bank more difficult.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do when your application is rejected. A bank’s decision is typically final, and requesting a review of the rejection may prolong the process and often result in another rejection.

It is often better to find alternative providers and submit new applications instead of trying to appeal the original rejection. 

Here are some alternatives for you to consider: 

• Fintech (via Statrys)
• Virtual Bank (via ZA Bank, Livi Bank, Mox, etc.)

While most banks in Hong Kong see startups and international entrepreneurs as risks, we consider them our core clients.

Statrys was created because we know firsthand how frustrating, slow, and opaque the traditional account opening process can be. Here’s how we set ourselves apart from banks and other fintechs, and why that matters for your business:

100% Online & Fast Approval
Open your business account entirely online and no branch visits. Most Statrys accounts are approved in under three days.

Built for Global Entrepreneurs
Manage 11 currencies, send and receive payments in 140+ countries, all designed for modern, international businesses.

Real Support, No Surprises
Get a dedicated account manager from day one, with clear guidance and transparent fees. No hidden charges, no runaround.