Following up on the last blog concerning the registration process of a newly created start-up company in Hong Kong, the next step should be getting an official business account for your company generating resources from potential investors in order to confidently grow your ‘newborn baby’.
Even though your ideas or concepts may be excellent and irreplaceable in your own field, you still need sufficient and continuous funding to overcome the financial difficulties during the initial stage. Opening an official business bank account within a short period of time will be substantial for accelerating your development pace. WYND team would like to give you some general advice and reminders for setting up your first business bank account in Hong Kong while our team is ready for any inquiry and consultation from start-up.
Business Account Setting Up in Hong Kong
Similar to other international cities in the world, the account opening process for a start-up business is always not an easy task due to the uncertainty of the start-up business. The bank usually takes a skeptical attitude in this case as it is difficult to foresee the future of a start-up without a promising performance history, the rejection rate for start-up company maintains high. Moreover, lack of experience in handling complicated documentation and the uncertainty of different new business models, especially related to the high-tech industries, are also the common causes of failure. Although the process is time-consuming, it is the ultimate key for your ideas and thought to develop and expand to the world.
Mentally Ready for the Registration
Before the setting up process, you should always be well prepared for it both mentally and physically. You should be honest across the application period, especially relating to your own financial situation since honesty is seriously concerned. Any exaggeration or misleading statement may lead to credit or even legal issues which will definitely affect the confidence level of the bank towards your business. Another kindly reminder is that trading with risky or terrorism-related states is considered to be a negative factor in your company’s image. How much your company can possibly earn may not be as essential as the above elements during the registration process.
Well-prepared Documentation
The application process requires a standard procedure since the authority has its responsibility to maintain a professional and safe business environment in Hong Kong which is considered as one of the safest business ecosystems in the world by far. At the same time, the requirement sat by different banks varies, so research should be done carefully before the preparation process in order to avoid missing any papers or causing misunderstanding in the meeting with the bank representative.
Physically presentation for application is not necessary for some banks in Hong Kong during the application process, an oversea corporation is allowed to sign all of the essential documents at any location with the presence of a witness in order to finish the registration.
The following documents should be well prepared with no mistakes at least:
- Certificate of Incorporation issued by the Hong Kong Companies Registry (refer to our last blog)
- Business Registration Certificate issued by the Inland Revenue Department
- Articles of Association
- Director Declaration of personal information of directors or principal shareholders (entitled to more than 10% of controlling of the company or voting rights) with their details, such as the percentages of shares owned by different individuals and other relevant personal information
- Concerning of all beneficial owners of the business
In-Person: Identification Document* or Travelling document, Residential address proof** and tax residency
Corporate entity: Incorporation Certificate, Record of registered address and tax residency
*A copy of Hong Kong ID card or passport.
**Different bills from officials, bank statements or authorized license with an address, which are only valid within two months old
^Special reminder: a permanent office located in Hong Kong is not essential as you only need a registered office address, or a virtual office address is accepted. To know more about having a business address with low cost, send to [email protected] now for further information.
- A list of signatures of authorized signatories for identification
- A minimum deposit between 0 and 50,000 depending on the requirement of different banks
- A well-organized and clear business plan dedicated for your own business with an audited financial statement (business nature, service or goods provided, trading targets or other relevant information have to be included)
- The information of the funding and wealth for your business or previous banking history should be kindly provided
Meeting the bank and Show your passion
After the acceptance of the application, banks will organize a formal meeting with you in order to complete the Know-Your-Customers (KYC) and due-diligence procedure with respect to the Hong Kong authority. Since the business account set up process is seriously undertaken, a specific representative is going to be assigned for your case, hence, an advanced request of appointment either via online or phone call is a must.
The meeting can only be initiated with the presence of all the key members of your company. This formally conducted meeting will determine whether your application is successful or not to a large extent. The person attended the meeting should be well-prepared with all the important documents and a complete understanding of the business operation. You should show your enthusiasm with a clear goal for your business which can potentially contribute to Hong Kong society or business environment in general.
You should also prepare more than needed to deal with any emergency issues or special requests from the bank who may require supplementary documents for confirmation.
Be Patient and Responsive
Since the banks in Hong Kong are extremely careful before
accepting any application, it takes several months, even a year for approval.
Besides, the requirements mentioned by the banks may change. Therefore, you
should always be ready for any urgent request from the banks. The amount of
effort paid determines whether you can finally set up a business account or
not. Should you be reminded that the failure will be recorded, the registration
for the first time is the most important one for your future business
development.
In addition, there is also help from the Hong Kong government where you can
understand the whole process completely on Hong Kong
Monetary Authority or send an email for any issues directly to [email protected] to
communicate with officials.
Never Seek for Instant Success
Since a successful first-time application is important to your business, you must not start it without any consultation with professionals and experienced business leaders. If you are a member of a coworking space, like WYND Co-working Space, you can seek help from the admin or other members without paying a high consultation fee while building up your own business network at the same time to facilitate other business processes.
Another Choice for Start-up Right Now
The time and effort needed for setting up a business account are tremendous, hence, there is another great option for start-up offered by HSBC recently. As one of the greatest banks in Hong Kong, HSBC is one of the most attractive options for accounting set up, but it’s setting process is also more complicated and carefully carried out.
Consequently, HSBC has realized the hardship of start-ups in Hong Kong and creating the HSBC Sprint Account specified for any start-up business to provide them a flexible and affordable financial service. The waiver of first-year minimum account balance and the comprehensive back-office support for e-commerce are important features for the start-up business. Further to the account application benefit, PayMe for Business is also an alternative offered by HSBC for young businessmen for facilitating their business transactions in a more convenient and smart way.
For the information related to HSBC with start-up, WYND’s team can help you connect with their team in a faster way.
Follow up on WYND’s blog page, keep checking out our latest blogs and we will explain everything you have to understand as a start-up business operator. We hope that you can start your business and make an impact in Hong Kong soon.
Come and join us, check out more in WYND and we’re ready to help for start-up all the time.