The practice of gifting red envelopes in Asia dates back as far as the 10th century and private banks are unlikely to buck the trend despite the wave of contactless payment adoption. finews.asia reviews how the industry is keeping traditions alive this Lunar New Year.
Admittedly, the practice of gifting red packets or envelopes is being disrupted not only by a global focus on digitalization and sustainability but also due to the limitations of the pandemic.
According to research firm Statista, the number of people who sent or received red packets via WeChat rose to 823 million in 2019, up from 688 million in 2018. And there’s good reason to believe that there will be more conversion in 2020 and 2021 due to social distancing measures and travel bans.
Even in the broader banking industry, there have been efforts to digitalize the longstanding custom. Monetary Authority of Singapore’s assistant managing director of finance, risk and currency Bernard Wee recently called on the industry to help reduce the production of new cash notes aimed for red packets which are estimated to produce 330 tonnes of carbon emissions every Lunar New Year.
Private Banking: High-Touch
But while an increasing number of players commit to net-zero carbon emission targets in the coming decades, contributions from various business lines are unlikely to be consistently proportional across the board.
Similarly, conversion of physical red packets to e-packets will not be an even process and private banks are proving to show preference once again for tradition. According to a «Business Times» report citing local producers that work with financial institutions, demand for mass market red packets fell 20-30 percent this year but demand for high-end versions remain steady with some even increasing budgets to «outdo» the competition.
finews.asia takes a look at how Asia’s top private banks are keeping traditions alive this Lunar New Year.
UBS Global Wealth Management
Asia’s largest private bank by assets under management featured red packets that leveraged art technology to create a metallic effect and 3D embossing. Alongside design partner Keng Lye, the Swiss bank’s management and internal stakeholders were actively involved in the entire process from conception to production.
The red packets are also accompanied by an ornate pouch which features the iconic UBS logo with three keys that symbolize the bank’s most treasured traditional values: confidence, security and discretion.
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