Opening an HSBC Hong Kong Account: My First-Hand Experience (The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)

Looking for how to choose a bank, the required documents or the cost of maintaining an account? This article is a first-hand account of actually visiting branches. Which bank to choose and what to prepare are covered in How to Open a Bank Account in Hong Kong [2026]: Required Documents, Choosing a Bank and Maintenance Costs. For visas, permanent residence and rent for living in Hong Kong, see Hong Kong relocation: requirements and costs; for how to choose an overseas account without limiting yourself to one country, see how to open an overseas bank account.

From March 7 to March 12, 2025, I travelled to Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen.

On the recommendation of an acquaintance who lives in Hong Kong, I opened a personal account with HSBC, and I am recording my experience here.

*This account of events is as of March 2025. This article is an English version of our Japanese article, adapted for foreign residents of Japan and international investors. I opened the account as a Japanese passport holder living in Japan; requirements and procedures can differ by nationality and country of residence, and bank rules change over time.

I visited an HSBC branch on Hong Kong Island, but...

The first branch I visited was one on the Hong Kong Island side.

My acquaintance in Hong Kong had made an appointment for me at 11:00. I had stayed in Macau the night before, so I hurried onto a ferry back to Hong Kong.

The ferry arrived at Sheung Wan, and I rushed to the HSBC branch by MTR.

*My acquaintance had told me in advance what documents are generally required, so I brought them and went on my own.
This acquaintance used to work for a foreign financial institution and knows the inside workings very well.

When I arrived, the branch was quite crowded, with about five older customers waiting in line.

When I spoke to the woman at reception, she said very politely in English something like, "I'm sorry, could you please wait over there?"

I felt that bank counter staff are kind in Hong Kong too.

After waiting about 30 minutes, the same woman finally called me.
She said something in English like, "Thank you very much for waiting. This way, please."

I was shown into a private room, and another staff member, a woman, came in.

"You'd like to open an account? What is the purpose?"
She went on asking questions like this.
She seemed very busy.

I will leave out the details of the conversation here, but when I told her I wanted to open an account because I sometimes do business with clients in Hong Kong, she said, "In that case it would be a business account rather than an ordinary account, so I will refer you to another branch. Please go there."
She referred me to the Causeway Bay branch.

↑The branch I was told to visit for opening a business account. In the end, I did not go there.

Moving on to another HSBC branch

When I consulted my acquaintance in Hong Kong, they advised me: "If you go there, they will ask you to submit additional documents, so I don't think there's any point. Try the XX branch over here instead."

I was hungry, but I wanted to avoid a situation where I could not open an account because I had stopped to eat.
I resisted the temptation of Hong Kong's food, put lunch off until later, and headed to the next branch.

I took a bus to the next branch.
I ended up inside a shopping mall and got a little lost, but I managed to reach the HSBC branch.

Putting lunch off paid off: I successfully opened an HSBC account

The second branch was crowded like the first, but perhaps because I visited around 2 p.m., it felt a little calmer than the first one.

I had no appointment here, but I told the man at reception that I wanted to open a new account, took a numbered ticket and waited my turn.

Here too I waited about 30 minutes before finally being shown to a consultation booth.

A woman in her early thirties assisted me.

Here, the account opening went smoothly from the start.

The staff member told me that an acquaintance of hers lives near my home address.

She seemed fond of Japan, and she proceeded with the procedure while we chatted in a relaxed way.
Perhaps because she has friends in Japan, she seemed interested in Japan as well.

My English is not that fluent, but she kindly went at my pace and let me open the account without rushing me.

I was thinking, "They surely won't give me the ATM card on the spot, so maybe they'll send it to Japan by international mail?" — but to my surprise, she handed me the ATM card right there.

She was truly courteous to the very end, and I was full of gratitude to her.

She told me, "The account needs a deposit, and you can deposit at the counter, so please make a deposit there."
So I deposited Japanese yen at the counter.

With the account successfully opened, I checked into my hotel and had some noodles.
There was a neat little noodle shop in front of my hotel near Central, so I ate there.
Beef brisket seems to be a Hong Kong specialty, so I ordered a similar noodle dish.
It had beef tendon (I think), pickled mustard greens and bok choy, and it was delicious.

Points to note

If you open an HSBC account and then leave it with no balance and no activity, the account will be frozen after a certain period.
*I have not confirmed the exact period, but I think it could be frozen after one or two years.

If, like me, you do business with people in Hong Kong or China and receive deposits into the account, you do not need to worry, but people whose accounts have no deposits, withdrawals or other movement at all need to be especially careful.

*You should research the requirements for maintaining the account in advance,
such as whether there is a minimum balance requirement.

For reference, the HSBC Hong Kong account I opened had no minimum balance requirement and no conditions such as buying insurance.

*The above reflects the account I opened in March 2025. For current fees and dormancy rules, including the fee HSBC introduced in January 2026 for HSBC One accounts opened by people without a Hong Kong ID, see How to Open a Bank Account in Hong Kong [2026].

Can you withdraw cash in Japan?

You can withdraw cash at ATMs in Japan as long as they display the UnionPay logo.

However, there may be a limit on how much you can withdraw at one time.

The branches where I could and could not open a personal account [required documents included]

The names of the branch where I was able to open an account and the branch where I was not, along with the required documents, are given in the following paid article (in Japanese).

https://note.com/satotaiga/n/n553b96273d47

*To prevent this information from spreading too widely online, the article is paid.

Our office does not provide telephone consultations about opening bank accounts.
Please refrain from contacting our office by phone about this.