INTERVIEW
Amidst a crisis, Hong Kong’s Mox Bank sees boundless opportunities The neobank has outlined a bold plan to kickstart a new generation of virtual-savvy customers.
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he current crisis may have upended operations of Hong Kong’s banking industry, but for Hong Kong virtual-only lender Mox Bank, it is also a time that is rife with opportunity. “We saw that as a result of COVID-19 outbreak, that more and more people are living their lives virtually or online—whether it’s online shopping, for work, study or entertainment,” Deniz Güven, CEO of Mox Bank, told Asian Banking & Finance in an exclusive interview. “We believe the pandemic has made many more consumers in Hong Kong to adopt and be comfortable in living their lives virtually, whether it’s shopping, dining, learning,” he later added. The plethora of prospects that the new normal has opened for digital financial offerors aligns with Mox Bank’s proposition, whose name reflects the endless opportunities it plans to create with its customers—which the lender cheekily refers to as “Generation Mox.” Unlike other virtual banking propositions in APAC, Mox does not only target a single generation or segment, but intends to focus on providing personalised banking services for each individual customer’s life stages. “Our research spoke of wanting savings and spending advice, based on their life stages, not how much they already have. They want advice to help them track and achieve their life goals. They want even better security and fraud monitoring in these times of e-commerce. They want more services and rewards out of their banks, and this is what we will initially focus on,” said Güven. He also revealed that prior to its beta launch, the bank—whose parent company is the British multinational finance giant Standard Chartered, in partnership with PCCW, HKT, and Trip.com—conducted surveys with over 2,000 people to learn more what they desire from the neobank. Mox’s first project is launching Asia’s first all-in-one numberless bank card in partnership with Mastercard—a physical card for spending and ATM cash withdrawals and without any printed card numbers, expiry date, or card verifications. Instead, these could be accessed from the Mox banking app. Asian Banking & Finance had a chat with CEO Güven to learn more about Mox Bank’s entrance in Hong Kong’s banking industry as well as its vision of growth for the bank in the coming years. What was the idea behind the name “Mox”? How does the name of your bank represent how you want to position yourself in the banking industry? Many folks have asked how we came about with our name 16 ASIAN BANKING AND FINANCE | DECEMBER 2020
Mox Bank’s research found customers were keen for savings and spending advice, based on their life stages, not how much they already had.
Deniz Güven, CEO, Mox Bank
and logo. Well, it was actually quite a simple journey. We researched, asked potential customers, we went through more than 2,000 naming suggestions, before we found the one we all like—Mox. Mox can mean many things. It reflects the endless opportunities we can create—Mobile eXperience; Money eXperience; Money X (multiplier), eXponential growth, eXploration. It’s all up for us to define, together. As for our logo and our visual design, they are inspired by the round shape of a Hong Kong dollar coin, which is also a nod to our roots. We take pride in being one of Hong Kong’s newest virtual banks, complementing Standard Chartered’s heritage of being Hong Kong’s oldest note-issuing bank with over 160 years of experience in serving the community. What are your thoughts in being one of Hong Kong’s newest virtual-only banks? What is your outlook for the local virtual banking industry? We are excited about the opportunities ahead. Despite the many retail banks available in Hong Kong, with the many online banking services available to consumers, we believe there are still gaps in banking services that people need today. Currently, there is an underserved customer base in Hong Kong. We’ve been listening to what customers want, and we’ve