Banking through anything other than the Net is beginning to look deeply unfashionable. The world's largest Internet bank, run by MeritaNordbanken in Finland, already has 1.2 million online customers. Now Asian banks are joining the virtual fray, with Singapore first off the mark. For the moment it is concentrating on investment accounts and unit trusts, but over the next few months it plans to offer insurance, fixed deposits, mortgages, and debit and credit cards. The city-state's United Overseas Bank, meanwhile, is taking a slightly different track.
Websites offer stock trading, mutual fund investment and cyberbanking.
Lagging slightly, Hong Kong could join the market in just six months. The Bank of East Asia and Dah Sing Financial Holdings have spare banking licenses and are keen to cash in. Dao Heng Bank also is interested. The start-ups are minnows, however, by comparison with the joint venture announced April 18 by global financial services giants HSBC Holdings and Merrill Lynch. It's expected to reach 21 countries in four years, starting with Britain late this year.