New Hong Kong virtual bank Airstar is to begin pilot trials with 2000 customers from within the Fintech Supervisory Sandbox of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Available to friends and families of the staff of Airstar, and its backers Xiaomi Hong Kong and AMTD Group, customers will be able to open an account remotely and take advantage of free inter-bank transfer through the Faster Payment System (FPS) and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).
Users will be able to open savings accounts and access unsecured lending products with interest accrual on a daily basis.
Airstar is one of eight virtual banks licensed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority last year to encourage fintech innovation and boost competition in the territory's banking sector.
ZA, established by ZhongAn Technologies International, launched the city's first digital-only bank in December as a pilot, and is offering 6% for three-month deposits up to HK$200,000 ($25,000), which includes a 4% top up.
Along with ZA and Airstar, Chinese giants Ant Financial and Tencent, home-grown mobile lender WeLab, and consortia-based approaches from the likes of Standard Chartered and Bank of China, have been granted licences to operate digital banks by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.