【Hong Kong, 13 December 2019】Hong Kong Association of Banks ("HKAB") has launched its 2019 community education campaign "Smart Use of Online Banking", promoting understanding and adoption of online banking among middle-aged and young old people (aged 40-65) in partnership with local social service organisations. The HKAB has invited celebrity Ms Nancy Sit to take part in an educational video series themed "Online Banking Brings Us Closer", as part of the campaign which is aimed to encourage the target groups to reap the benefits of digital life.

The educational video series of HKAB's "Smart Use of Online Banking" campaign was released today. Ms Mary Huen, Chairperson of the HKAB remarked, "The banking industry in Hong Kong endeavours to promote financial inclusion. The introduction of online banking services has eliminated geographical and time constraints, allowing most people to access banking services with their mobile phones or computers anytime and anywhere. Although online banking services are becoming more popular, its penetration among the middle-aged and older communities is relatively low. Therefore, the HKAB hopes to help those non-tech savvy break the barriers and take up online banking smartly through this community education campaign."

Nancy Sit: Online Banking Brings Us Closer

The campaign Ambassador Ms Nancy Sit, also a user of online banking, said that online banking helped her save a lot of time and was so convenient that she could check her bank account balance and manage her account anytime, anywhere. "I used to be ignorant about online banking. Thanks to my daughter, who taught me how to use it, now my daughter gives me housekeeping money through online banking. Online banking brings us closer indeed."

Survey Results Shows Key Concern: Cybersecurity and Availability of Instant Customer Service

The HKAB commissioned Happy Retired, a local social enterprise to conduct an online survey between July and September this year on those aged between 40 and 65. It is aimed to gauge the middle-aged people's and the young olds' habit of and attitude towards online banking. The survey received 417 complete responses. The results indicate that about 60% of the respondents visit bank branches every month; around 50% had never used online banking service or used the service less than four times a month. Highlights of the survey results are as follows:

Table 1: Purposes of visiting bank branches and using online banking services among respondents

Table 2: Reasons for using / not using online banking among respondents

Community Outreach: Sharing Tips on Online Banking

In view of promoting the knowledge and sharing tips on online banking at community level, the HKAB produced two educational videos, and collaborated with Happy Retired, St James' Settlement Retired Persons' Service Centre, SKH Holy Carpenter Church District Elderly Communtiy Centre, the Salvation Army Yaumatei Multi-Service Centre for Senior Citizens and We60 to co-organise workshops for middle-aged and young-olds from November 2019 onwards. The workshops will give an introduction of online banking and its practical tips, and create awareness through the educational videos. The first episode of the video series "Online Banking Brings Us Closer" (Family) is now available at: https://youtu.be/XWWlUFz557g. The other episode will be released in the following week. Stay tuned for the update on the Facebook fanpage of the HKAB and our community partners.

Over the years, HKAB has brought together member banks to give back to society through a range of initiatives under its "We Care, We Share" initiative and various types of community programmes. Apart from the promotion of online banking, the HKAB has hosted "Financial Interactive Theatre", ATM Education Programme for senior citizens and Financial Education Workshop for low-income and single-parent families.

The Hong Kong Association of Banks

13 December 2019