Let's talk about getting her paid. It starts with a bank account.
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In short
Your helper can open her own Hong Kong bank account once she has her Hong Kong Identity Card, a local residential and mailing address, and is eighteen or over. Some banks now do the whole thing in an app, which is usually the easier route; others want a branch visit. Sort it out in the first fortnight and paying her stops being a monthly errand.
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A bank account is the least interesting thing on the list when someone new arrives, and it is the one that quietly makes every following month easier. Without it you are handling cash every payday, writing receipts, and keeping a record that depends on both of you remembering the same thing. With it, the payment happens, the record exists, and nobody has to think about it again.
It is also hers. She will use it to send money home, which for most helpers is the entire point of the job, and the cost and speed of doing that varies quite a lot between banks. That is a decision for her to make, not for the household to make on her behalf.
What she needs before she can open one
The usual requirements are straightforward, and they are the same basics any Hong Kong resident meets:
- Her Hong Kong Identity Card. This is issued after she arrives, so the account cannot be opened before then.
- A Hong Kong residential and mailing address, which will normally be yours.
- Being eighteen or over.
Banks set their own rules and change them, so treat that as the shape of it rather than a guarantee. Mox, for example, publishes those three conditions for opening an account. Check the bank's own site for what it asks for today before either of you spends an afternoon on it.
Should she do it in an app or at a branch?
Both work. The app route has become the common choice simply because it does not cost a rest day.
| Digital bank, in an app | Traditional bank, at a branch | |
|---|---|---|
| Time it takes | Usually the same day, from the flat | A branch appointment, often on her day off |
| What she needs to hand | HKID, a phone, an address | HKID, address proof, sometimes the employment contract |
| Best when | She wants it done quickly and is comfortable on a phone | She wants a passbook, counter service, or a bank she already knows |
Mox is the example most often given for the app route, and HSBC for the branch route. Neither is a recommendation from us: they are simply the two most people have heard of, and the choice is hers.
One practical note. If she does need to go to a branch, that is a trip on her own time unless you agree otherwise, and a bank appointment eats most of a morning. Offering a weekday hour instead is a small kindness that costs almost nothing.
What you can help with, and what stays hers
Help with the address, help with the form if her English or Chinese is shaky, and offer to look up which branch is nearest. That is the useful end of it.
The account, the card, the passbook and the login are hers, and they stay with her. An employer holding a helper's bank card or passbook is not a safeguard, whatever the reasoning behind it: it leaves her unable to reach her own wages, and it is the kind of arrangement that goes badly wrong even between people who trust each other.
If what is really worrying you is that she is sending everything home and keeping nothing back, say so plainly and once. Mention that money transfer services charge very different rates and it is worth comparing a few. Then leave it, because her money is hers to manage, and a household that manages it for her has stopped being an employer and started being something else.
Keeping a clean record of what you paid
Once the account exists, keep the record simple: pay the same amount on the same date each month by transfer, and keep the confirmations. If you ever pay anything extra, note what it was for at the time rather than reconstructing it later.
This is not about distrust in either direction. It is that a year from now neither of you will remember whether the extra amount in March was an advance, a reimbursement for the shopping, or a gift, and a one-line note at the time settles it permanently.
If it is not going smoothly
Most of the time this is a dull errand that takes an hour. Occasionally a bank asks for something unexpected, or an application goes nowhere with no clear reason, and it becomes a genuine headache in a language she is still getting used to.
If you are stuck, that is a fine thing to ring us about. GMA's office is open 10am to 7pm, seven days a week, and this is exactly the sort of small settling-in problem worth five minutes on the phone rather than a month of workarounds. Talk to us. And if you are still working out what employing a helper costs month to month, the wage is only part of it: the full picture is on our pricing page.
This article is general information about employing a domestic helper in Hong Kong. It is not legal, immigration or professional advice, and the rules do change. For your own situation, check the official sources below or talk to us.