趕客 Customer Selection

I eventually cancelled my BOCHK bank accounts. I had been the bank customer since 1983 or may be even early when it was not that popular. As it is now the most dominant bank in Hong Kong, the bank always has queues outside its doors.

I cancelled the accounts for several reasons, mainly high transaction costs and service charges but no added values.

When I did my home mortgage, I went for 2 banks, BOCHK and CCB Asia. I expected to use BOCHK as it had been my bank for many years; CCB was a backup just in case. However, as it turned out, BOC had not finished my application when the deadline was due, whereas CCB had. So I went for CCB. Bear in mind, do not think the bank helps you for mortgage finance; it is yourself as a customer to provide the bank business as you pay them interests.

In HK, the transaction cost for warrants trading is lower than stock trading because there is no stamp duty on warrants. Wing Lung bank charges as low as HK$4.88 per transaction regardless the transaction amount. Some banks charge a minimum but most banks charge based on the transaction amount. Standard chartered Bank does not charge a minimum, they charge a standard market percentage proportionate to the transaction amount. Also, SCB does not charge stamp duty on warrants. If you go to broker firms such as Bright Smart and IB, their charges are even lower. However, if you go for BOCHK, they charge a lot higher, in particular, warrants trading. I did lots of warrants trading between 2014 and 2015, but I seldom checked the fees as I supposed they were just a small fraction. However a particular transaction brought my attention because that transaction was supposed to be even but the amount settled was $1400+ less. I was charged an addition of HK$500 for warrant trade whose amount was around HK$80K for a couple of times. I later on checked with their staff and confirmed they charged min $100 for warrant trading and $500 was the ceiling. They said it was the bank's policy even though the stock exchange does not charge any additional on warrants. That had left me no choice but gone to other firms. Mind you, it is a big difference for $4.88 per transaction of Wing Lung and $500 + based fees ($200 or more) for BOC. I am talking about the same online self-service transactions.

Some years ago, the major banks required their customers to maintain a certain amount to avoid monthly account fees. That’s been removed for most of them as long as the accounts do not involve manual transactions such as deposit and withdrawal at counter. BOCHK will charge $60 per month for any account below HK$10K regardless how long you have been with the bank.

In nowadays electronic age, a lot of banking transactions can be done online. Unless a bank provides value added services that differentiate it from others, otherwise the differentiation is on price.

So bye-bye BOCHK.