Why Hong Kong banks have shut down 40% of branches in recent years

New York may be known as the city that never sleeps, but many Hongkongers like to take care of banking transactions at 2am – a truth that helps explain why 40 per cent of physical branches have disappeared in recent years, according to local bank executives. While the number of Hong Kong licensed banks had remained stable around 150 for many years, the number of bank branches had dropped 40 per cent to about 900 from 1,500 in recent years, said Sunny Cheung, CEO of Shanghai Commercial Bank. “[In...