HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc. and other banks are moving rapidly to tap a new program that will allow investments between Hong Kong and mega-cities in southern China.

HSBC has put up 60 centers on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong after the long-awaited program, called Wealth Management Connect, was given the green-light last month and as banks received final approval Monday last week.

“We’re open for business,” said Daniel Chan, head of the Greater Bay Area at HSBC. “The opportunity out there in the future will be very strong.”

Standard Chartered Plc and China’s biggest lenders were also among those picked for the program, which has been estimated to generate almost US$500 million in annual fees for lenders.

The wealth link program is a building block in integrating the Greater Bay Area, a region of 70 million people encompassing cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as Macao and Hong Kong.

Citigroup has joined up with China Guangfa Bank Co., a Guangzhou-based lender with almost 30 million retail customers. The U.S. lender and its partner are offering almost 100 types of wealth management products, it said.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) is offering more than 100 different products for eligible investors, both northbound and southbound, while Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. (OCBC) has set up a partnership with Ping An Bank Co.

HSBC will offer more than 100 wealth management products, initially low-to-medium risk to eligible investors, said Chan. But it will take time to develop and interest is expected to “gradually step up,” he said. (SD-Agencies)