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Standard Chartered's Planned Hong Kong Virtual Bank Announced as Mox

Mox Bank Limited, or Mox, will be the name of the new virtual bank in Hong Kong to be launched by Standard Chartered in partnership with PCCW, HKT, and Trip.com. Launching later this year, the mission of Mox is to help everyone in Hong Kong grow – “your money, your world, your possibilities.”

In today’s announcement declaring the new bank’s identity, Deniz Güven, CEO of Mox, said “Mox operates in a whole new way by listening to customers and focusing on heart share. We aim to empower Hong Kong customers to grow and unlock more possibilities by providing a truly digital and personalized banking experience.”

According to the release, the Mox logo was inspired by the round shape of a Hong Kong dollar coin, a nod to the founding collaborators’ roots. Standard Chartered, who was responsible for the first Hong Kong banknote issued, will now serve the community in the newest form of banking.

The Emergence of Virtual Banking

Hong Kong’s currency board and de facto central bank, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), introduced the virtual banking license in 2017 for a “new era of smart banking.”

Since then, there have been eight licenses granted, one of which includes SC Digital Solutions Limited, the Virtual Bank by Standard Chartered (official name now revealed as Mox), a joint venture between Standard Chartered Bank, PCCW, HKT, and Ctrip. HKT and parent PCCW are one of the dominant telecommunication companies in the region. Ctrip is a Chinese online travel agency that is under the same parent company as Trip.com.

The development of Mox Bank Limited by Standard Chartered started around 2 years ago, with preliminary research in ethnographic research to understand the market. Ethnographic research helped with understanding the needs of the market and the consumers’ behavior. Güven said, “If we can understand the real behavior behind it, we can build new services.”

Güven told Blockchain.News that the Virtual Bank by Standard Chartered had reached out to over 2000 people in Hong Kong from different classes and demographics to understand the needs of the market in the planning stages of Mox. “We identified different pain points in Hong Kong. There are a lot of good banks in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong’s banking systems are one of the best in the world. From a product perspective, there is a huge maturity.”

In terms of whether blockchain will be implemented in the virtual bank, Güven said: “We have some plans, but not for day one. I see blockchain as a digital currency, but it can be more than just a currency. It’s behavior.”

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Standard Chartered's Virtual Bank, Mox Will Usher in New Era of Banking for Hong Kong

Mox Bank Limited, or Mox, the new virtual bank in Hong Kong recently launched by Standard Chartered, has now been made available to select customers via invitation in an external pilot. The aim of the pilot is to prepare the state-of-art virtual bank for the public launch scheduled for later this year.

According to the official release, Deniz Güven, CEO of Mox, said: “This external pilot is a critical step for selected external customers to use Mox, share their feedback with us and help us to refine our services. We are excited about this co-creation of Mox with customers, as we seek to make banking easier, simpler and more delightful.”

Standard Chartered’s landmark virtual bank project was finally named Mox earlier last month. The bank was announced with the the stated mission helping everyone in Hong Kong grow – “your money, your world, your possibilities.”

Güven spoke to that effect in the release when he said, “Mox is in the business of trust, and our goal is to win your heart share. We are delighted to begin this journey with our first generation of Mox customers.”

Mox Will Be a GameChanger

Hong Kong’s currency board and de facto central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), introduced the virtual banking license in 2017 for a “new era of smart banking.” Since then, there have been eight licenses granted, one of which included Standard Chartered Digital Solutions Limited – the working title for MOX at the time. , the Virtual Bank by Standard Chartered (official name to be revealed), a joint venture between Standard Chartered Bank, PCCW, HKT, and Ctrip. HKT and parent PCCW are one of the dominant telecommunication companies in the region.

Virtual banking services in Hong Kong are set be a gamechanger and a disruptor for the financial services industry. Virtual banks have been popular in Europe, and the United Kingdom has coined an alternative term for virtual banks, known as the ‘challenger banks’.

The pilot will allow the invited customers of Mox Limited to experience the intial, yet impressive, suite of services which include quick approvals for loans and efficient account openings within a few seconds and with no minimum balance as well as cutting edge security and privacy maintanence.

According to Mox, everything is based on extensive research to identify what truly matters to customers and to solve real world pain points and the impressive list of feature does seem that they have thought it through for their “Generation Mox” customers.

First Virtual Banks By 2025 From Bank Of Thailand

The announcement that the Bank of Thailand intends to initiate the very first transaction in the country via virtual banking was made by the institution.

According to the findings of a research conducted by Bloomberg, financial institutions would be able to provide their services by the year 2025.

In the Consultation Paper on Virtual Bank Licensing Framework that was distributed by the central bank, it was said that software that would make it possible for virtual banks to serve as providers of financial services will be accessible later on in the year 2023.

This move is intended to encourage greater levels of competition and to promote economic growth in Thailand.

By the year 2024, the Bank of Thailand will have made three different licenses accessible to any businesses that may be interested in obtaining one. Relying on the findings of the research, at least 10 different organizations have shown an interest in having licenses issued to them.

Both traditional commercial banks and online banks will, so long as they operate within the parameters of the licensing system, be subject to the same rules and degrees of supervision.

In addition, those individuals who are qualified to apply and are interested in doing so will be required to meet a number of conditions.

For the first few years of its existence, virtual banks will reportedly have to comply with a number of regulations imposed by the central bank. During this time, there will be a heightened emphasis on surveillance activities in an effort to identify and neutralize any potential risks to the global financial system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand recently made a statement in which it announced its goal to enhance the safety of investors by establishing stronger restrictions for cryptocurrencies.

The use of blockchain technology is expected to benefit from a recent technical cooperation agreement that was recently inked between Thailand and Hungary. This comes at a time when there is a fast expanding demand in Thailand for mobile payments, e-commerce, and cryptocurrency transactions.

In the year 2022, the country saw a range of developments relating to cryptocurrencies, such as plans to pilot a central bank digital currency for about 10,000 users.